MOON TOWNSHIP– January has been a tough month for the Robert Morris women’s basketball team. The team is currently winless in 2024.
RMU (6-16, 2-11) welcomed Milwaukee (13-10, 7-5) to the UPMC Events Center on Wednesday, where they would ultimately fall 61-43.
RMU has been particularly strong on the defensive end during this rough patch, and that continued as they held the Panthers to 2-12 from three and forced nine turnovers and eight points off those nine turnovers at the end of the first half. The Colonials have struggled to score off turnovers during this stretch, so it is encouraging to see that trend change.
RMU would also struggle from the three as they only shot 15% from behind the arc and were unable to make one until one minute to go in the third when Madison O’Dell sunk a three. She would make another next possession down to gain momentum for the Colonials going into the fourth, but the Panthers would ultimately be too much for them to handle.
RMU would again struggle from the floor, shooting just 27%. The Colonials were getting good looks, but shots seemed not to fall.
After the game, Head Coach Charlie Buscaglia spoke on his team’s struggle on the offensive end.
“It’s tough,” Buscaglia said. “You’ve got to keep them up, though. Student-athletes must see their heads up when the ball doesn’t go in. So we are just continuing to encourage, even though we are going through these shooting woes.”
RMU also seemed to have trouble rebounding, as they were out-rebounded 40-26. The Panthers had 30 defensive rebounds, which, on top of the Colonials’ rough shooting night, will lead to a lot of points in the paint, as Milwakuee had 24 points in the paint.
The Colonials did a good job, as they limited fast break points by only letting up one fast break point, which can be tough when the other team is getting a good portion of your missed shots. The Colonials missed 42 shots but managed only to give up one total point on misses.
“It’s the way we’ve got to play. It’s the way I know,” Buscaglia said. “Through all the years, all the NCAA Tournaments, and all the conference championships we’ve won. It’s been defense. You cannot give up layups. We cannot give up fastbreak points. We’ve given up too many of those.”
A positive for RMU is how well they took care of the ball, which has been a problem for them during this stretch but was not the case today as they only had 11. This allowed the Colonials to run their offense and get good shots.
“We are just playing at a pace that you don’t have to go 100 miles an hour to play at a good pace,” Buscaglia said. “You have got to be able to change speeds. You have got to be able to play with a burst. But we have been showing how the offense has those moments when we execute.”
Angie Cera led the Panthers with 11 points and five rebounds. Milwaukee also shot just under 50% from the field on the night.
“You have to make sure you stay hungry. We have to have a healthy balance of using this time to get healthy but also stay hungry,” said Buscaglia.
RMU looks to put January behind them when they are back in action in the Motor City on Thursday, Feb. 8, at Detroit Mercy.
