SACRED HEART PIONEERS
Thursday, December 29 // 1:00 p.m. Fairfield, Conn. // William H. Pitt Center Live Video: NEC Front Row Twitter: @RMUWBasketball Live Stats: SacredHeartPioneers.com THE CAPSULE It’s a rematch of this past March’s Northeast Conference (NEC) Championship Game for Robert Morris in its league opener as the Colonials travel to the Nutmeg State on Thursday, December 29 to take on preseason favorite Sacred Heart. RMU began its pursuit of a seventh conference crown with five victories in non-league play, which tied Bryant for the most among NEC teams.
THE SERIES VS. SACRED HEART The Pioneers have doubled up Robert Morris in its history, but recently the Colonials have had their way, picking up victories in four of the teams’ last six meetings. RMU won two games against Sacred Heart last season, including a 56-51 decision on the Pioneers’ home floor to send the Colonials to their fourth NCAA Tournament. SCOUTING THE PIONEERS Sacred Heart went 3-8 during the non-conference slate of their schedule, picking up victories over Fairfield, Binghampton, and Siena. Preseason All-NEC selection Hannah Kimmel leads the Pioneers in scoring, averaging 14.5 points on 42.3 percent shooting. Fellow senior Adaysha Williams is also averaging double-figures, tallying 11.5 points per game thanks to a 86.7 percent conversion rate from the free throw stripe. Williams also has posted a team-best 1.4 assist-to-turnover ratio, which is the second highest mark in the league.
RMU SHU Overall 5-6 3-8 Conference 0-0 0-0 Streak W1 W1 Home 2-1 1-0 Away 2-5 1-5 Neutral 0-0 0-1
2016-17 SCHEDULE & RESULTS 11.11 POINT PARK
Moon Township, Pa. // Charles L. Sewall Center
11.13
MONMOUTH
L, 56-69
11.16
@ Lafayette
W, 62-51
11.19
@ Kent State
11.22
@ Vanderbilt
L, 59-75
11.25
vs. Stetson ^
L, 60-68
11.27
@ Florida International ^
L, 57-59
12.1
@ Delaware
L, 65-67
12.4
HOWARD
12.9
@ Iowa
12.18
@ Morgan State
W, 58-44
12.29
@ Sacred Heart *
1:00 p.m.
12.31
@ Fairleigh Dickinson *
1:00 p.m.
1.7
ST. FRANCIS BROOKLYN *
1:00 p.m.
1.9
LIU BROOKLYN *
7:00 p.m.
1.14
@ Wagner *
1.16
SAINT FRANCIS U *
2:00 p.m.
1.21
BRYANT *
1:00 p.m.
1.23
CENTRAL CONNECTICUT *
7:00 p.m.
1.28
@ Mount St. Mary’s *
1:00 p.m.
1.30
@ Saint Francis U *
7:00 p.m.
2.4
@ St. Francis Brooklyn *
1:00 p.m.
2.6
@ LIU Brooklyn *
7:00 p.m.
2.11
WAGNER *
1:00 p.m.
2.13
MOUNT ST. MARY’S *
7:00 p.m.
2.18
@ Central Connecticut *
1:00 p.m.
2.20
@ Bryant *
8:00 p.m.
2.25
SACRED HEART *
2.27
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON *
TALE OF THE TAPE
RMU SHU 61.2 Points Per Game 59.5 61.2 Points Allowed Per Game 68.7 +/- 0 Scoring Margin - 9.2 .409 Field Goal Pct. .370 .347 3-Pt. FG Pct. .284 6.3 3-Pt. FG Per Game 6.5 .638 Free Throw Pct. .713 .380 FG Pct. Defense .403 .345 3-Pt. FG Pct. Defense .340 - 2.0 Rebound Margin - 12.5 13.1 Assists Per Game 12.3 17.5 Turnovers Per Game 14.6 + 0.4 Turnover Margin - 1.2 0.7 Assist / Turnover Ratio 0.8 8.5 Steals Per Game 5.5 3.2 Blocks Per Game 3.1
SERIES VS. SACRED HEART
Overall 11-22 Streak W1 Home 7-8 Trend Won 4 of last 6 Away 4-14 Last Game W, 56-51 Neutral 0-0 3.13.16 at SHU (NEC CG)
KNOW YOUR ENEMY After not finding much success against Sacred Heart as a freshman, Anna Niki Stamolamprou has proved to be a thorn in the Pioneers’ side since then, tallying double-digit points in four of the teams’ last five meetings. Stamolamprou, who is averaging 11.6 points per game versus SHU, scored her 1,000th career point last season on Jan. 2, 2016 against the Pioneers, finishing that game with 22 points (8-11 FG, 6-7 3PT). Fellow senior Rebeca Navarro also had one of her best shooting performances when facing SHU as she went 7-of-9 from the field and 6-of-7 from deep in a 20-point effort as a freshman on Feb. 20, 2014.
MUSKET SHOTS In the Colonials’ five victories this season, they have held a lead going into the fourth quarter ... After establishing a career-high in points at Iowa with 12, Nadège Pluviose scored in double-figures for second consecutive game at Morgan State, tallying 10 in 10 minutes ... Nneka Ezeigbo claimed her second NEC Rookie of the Week award on Dec. 19, becoming the fourth Colonial in the last five seasons to garner the plaudits more than once (Ashley Ravelli, Megan Smith, Anna Niki Stamolamprou) ... RMU returns 74 percent of its scoring from 2015-16, including five of its six leading scorers
PROBABLE STARTERS P G G G F C
# Player (based on previous game) 4 Anna Niki Stamolamprou (5-9, Sr., Thessaloniki, Greece) 10 Rebeca Navarro (5-11, Sr., Galicia, Spain) 11 Janee Brown (5-8, Sr., Mitchellville, Md.) 22 Megan Smith (6-1, Jr., Barrie, Ontario) 33 Nneka Ezeigbo (6-2, Fr., Ewing, N.J.)
PPG RPG 14.1 5.1 8.3 1.8 7.3 2.5 12.8 7.6 6.8 5.9
Note Became 20th member of 500 rebound club Sixth in career made three-point FG with 154 Reached 200 career assists at Morgan St. Double-figure points in all but three games Named NEC ROW on Dec. 19
Off the Bench G 0 Shakema Dashiell (5-9, Jr., Salisbury, Md.) 2.5 1.4 Averaging 12.3 minutes off the bench G 2 Nia Adams (5-10, So., Paterson, N.J.) 0.7 0.7 Made season debut vs. Howard G 3 Ja’lynn Burton-Jones (5-6, Fr., Middletown, Pa.) 1.0 1.0 Has not played in RMU’s last nine games F 1 Jocelynne Jones (6-0, Jr., Sicklerville, N.J.) 1.7 1.2 Played 10+ minutes in three straight games F 32 Nadège Pluviose (6-0, Fr., Montreal, Quebec) 4.1 2.2 Scored 10 or more points in last two games C 21 Mikalah Mulrain (6-3, Jr., Brampton, Ontario) 4.5 2.7 110 career blocks, 4th most in RMU history
W, 69-52
3.5
3.8
3.12
Moon Township, Pa. // Charles L. Sewall Center Easton, Pa. // Kirby Sports Center Kent, Ohio // M.A.C. Center
W, 68-65 (OT)
Nashville, Tenn. // Memorial Gymnasium // SECN+ Miami, Fla. // FIU Arena Miami, Fla. // FIU Arena
Newark, Del. // Bob Carpenter Center
W, 59-42
Moon Township, Pa. // Charles L. Sewall Center
L, 60-81
Iowa City, Iowa // Carver-Hawkeye Arena // BTN+ Baltimore, Md. // Hill Field House Fairfield, Conn. // William H. Pitt Center Teaneck, N.J. // Stratis Arena
Moon Township, Pa. // Charles L. Sewall Center Moon Township, Pa. // Charles L. Sewall Center Staten Island, N.Y. // Spiro Sports Center
1:00 p.m.
Moon Township, Pa. // Charles L. Sewall Center Moon Township, Pa. // Charles L. Sewall Center Moon Township, Pa. // Charles L. Sewall Center Emmitsburg, Md. // Knott Arena Loretto, Pa. // DeGol Arena Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. // Pope Center Brooklyn, N.Y. // Steinberg Wellness Center
Moon Township, Pa. // Charles L. Sewall Center Moon Township, Pa. // Charles L. Sewall Center New Britain, Conn. // Detrick Gymnaisum
Smithfield, R.I. // Chace Athletic Center // ESPN3
Noon
Moon Township, Pa. // Sewall Center // ESPN3
7:00 p.m.
Moon Township, Pa. // Charles L. Sewall Center
NEC Tournament Quarterfinals
TBD
NEC Tournament Semifinals
TBD
NEC Tournament Final
TBD
TBD // TBD TBD // TBD
TBD // TBD // ESPNU
Home games in BOLD CAPS; All times Eastern * Northeast Conference contest ^ FIU Thanksgiving Tournament