For every other team in the Horizon League on the women’s side, the Green Bay Phoenix are the standard everyone is trying to meet. The two-time reigning conference tournament champion entered last week at 13-0 in league play, including a 64-43 home win over Robert Morris earlier this season.
The Colonials had a chance for revenge on Thursday against Green Bay in a “Kids Day” game that tipped off at 11:00 AM ET. It was as perfect a start as possible for the underdogs, with RMU up 19-2 after the first quarter. Of course, the Phoenix would eventually make their comeback, outscoring the Colonials 26-11 in the next 10 minutes to trail 30-28 at the half.
The second half proved to be a back-and-forth battle, with Robert Morris up by five with over a minute to go. Unfortunately for them, poor offensive late-game execution allowed Green Bay to take one last shot at the end, breaking the Colonials’ hearts as time expired.
It was a 61-58 defeat for RMU, led by 18 points and nine rebounds from Bailey Kuhns, along with 16 points from Myriam Traore and 15 by Aislin Malcolm. Only the starters scored for the Colonials in this game, along with key reserves Noa Givon and Ava Leroux. It was a game Coach Chandler McCabe took hard, publicly blaming herself for the defeat.
Robert Morris had the chance to rebound 48 hours later by hosting Milwaukee, a team in the bottom tier of the Horizon League standings, on Saturday. There looked to be no hangover from the Green Bay game, with the hosts up 23-8 after the first quarter. However, just like in the previous game, the Colonials were outscored 18-6 in the second quarter and were up by just three midway through.
Despite the records, and RMU having a 10-point win at the Panthers in their prior matchup, Milwaukee proved more competitive this time around, setting up another back-and-forth game that ultimately needed extra time. In the end, the Colonials started out OT with an 8-0 run to stay permanently ahead, winning 71-64 to move to 16-8 overall and 9-6 in Horizon League play.
After a quiet game against Green Bay, Eva Levingston scored a career-high 19 points for RMU, with Malcolm chipping in 18 herself. A split was expected from the two games, but how it happened was arguably the most surprising result overall.
The big games continue for Robert Morris, with a road battle at Youngstown State (17-8, 10-5 Horizon) coming up on Wednesday night. Not only are the Penguins alone in second in the standings, but they also nearly beat Green Bay at home this past weekend, falling 54-51 in their own heartbreaking defeat. Robert Morris previously earned a 55-40 home win over YSU, and a season sweep will give them the edge for the coveted No. 2 seed in the upcoming Horizon League Tournament.
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