MOON TOWNSHIP— The Robert Morris women’s basketball team (10-15, 4-12 Horizon) looked to stop the red-hot Green Bay Phoenix (21-4, 14-2) Friday night at the UPMC Events Center. In this matchup, the Colonials would fall by 61-37.

While Green Bay came into Friday night’s matchup on a seven-game win streak, averaging nearly 68 points per game, Robert Morris would hold them to just seven first-quarter points.

Head coach Charlie Buscaglia spoke postgame of what his team executed well during the low-scoring first ten minutes of play and throughout the game.

“To hold them to seven in the first quarter was a victory early on,” Buscaglia said. “We were guarding Green Bay a lot better in the first quarter. I was proud of the team for coming out after halftime, being physical, and going hard. The attitude to keep fighting to the end that’s what I felt we did. The positive is how we responded in the third quarter despite how ugly things were in the second.”

Soon after the second quarter began, Green Bay showed why they are one of the top teams in the Horizon League. A 5-0 run for the Phoenix turned into a 27-0 run, with the Colonials being held scoreless in the second quarter.

Buscaglia gave credit to Green Bay for their efficient play and versatility.

“Green Bay does an excellent job in the post on defense,” Buscaglia said. “They’re very intelligent. They read well and pick apart when anyone gets lazy or loses focus.”

The Colonials came from a dominant win over Oakland and a five-day break. Buscaglia discussed the difficulties regarding a longer break between games regardless of the previous game’s outcome.

“You would think that a break like that is great, but you gotta stay fit and use your time efficiently,” Buscaglia said. “You can’t lose your pace. It was a challenge this week in practice to get better and go hard in practice, but know you still have a few days. You have to keep them fit, mentally hungry, and make sure they don’t lose their toughness. The breaks sometimes are harder than the quick turnarounds because you lose that focus and ability to stay locked in.”

Buscaglia would discuss areas where the Colonials need to improve before their next matchup as the end of the regular season quickly approaches.

“They changed a lot of angles on us in the post before the ball was going in, so we didn’t get the ball inside as much as we wanted to,” Buscaglia said. “We need to work on that. If you play a team like Green Bay, you have to know how to get the ball inside despite them playing how they play.

On the floor, sophomore center Danielle Vuletich has been a bright spot and more efficient for the Colonials as of late and filled up the stat sheet in more ways than one. Buscaglia talked about her recent development as a post-player and from beyond the arc.

“She wants to get better. There’s no question about it,” Buscaglia said. “Teams know she can shoot it now, so they’re always trying to get up on her and limit her good looks, but it was nice to see her get loose a couple of times and knock shots down for us. You have to use these moments as a ticket to get better rather than put your head down.”

Green Bay senior guard Sydney Levy led all scorers with 16 points. Phoenix Gedeon and Simone Morris both finished in double figures for the Colonials.

Robert Morris will be back in action on Sunday as they take on Milwaukee at 1 p.m.