MILWAUKEE – A Robert Morris run late in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference in Friday's Horizon League matchup, as the visiting Colonials defeated Milwaukee, 62-52.
 
The two teams were tied at 49 following a three-pointer by Jada Williams with 7:15 remaining, but costly turnovers and fouls allowed Robert Morris to score 12 unanswered points and build a 61-49 advantage with less than a minute to play.
 
Milwaukee made just two field goals in the fourth quarter, both from beyond the arc, as Williams hit the tying shot and Rita Gomes added a late three. Robert Morris did just enough offensively, making five field goals and converting five free throws to come out on top.
 
"I felt our mentality changed on the offensive end," said head coach Kyle Rechlicz. "Unfortunately, we took some bad shots during that period and didn't attack the rim. We didn't put any pressure on Robert Morris in the paint, so we were settling for a lot of threes and weren't hitting them."
 
Aislin Malcolm led RMU with 18 points, while Myrian Traore recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jada Lee had 11 points and Bailey Kuhns chipped in with 10 to round out the double-digit scorers.
 
Williams paced the Panthers with 11 points off the bench, including three three-pointers, while Jorey Buwalda scored 10 with a team-high five rebounds. Grace Lomen finished with eight points and Tierney Madigan added six.
 
"I thought this was Jada Williams' best games of her career," added Rechlicz. "She was incredibly confident and really set the tone for us on the defensive side."
 
Defensively, the Panthers held the Colonials to just 38.5 percent from the field, and 23.5 percent from three-point range. Milwaukee limited RMU to 62 points, its second-best defensive effort in Horizon League play this season following Monday's performance at IU Indy.
 
"We played our zone for quite a bit during the game, and then Robert Morris started attacking the boards, which put us in a position where we kind of had to get out of it," continued Rechlicz. "The last two games we played some pretty good defense. We're holding teams to 62 and 58 points, so in those moments you just need someone to step up and hit some big shots."
 
The Panthers finished the game shooting 35.2 percent from the field, with nine of the team's 19 made field goals coming from three-point range. Milwaukee recorded 12 assists, led by Valerie Cassidy-De Falco with four.
 
After trailing 18-11 after the first quarter, Milwaukee bounced back in the second and went into halftime down just one, 33-32. The Panthers outscored RMU by one in the third quarter to send the game to the fourth tied at 46.
 
A three-pointer by RMU was answered by Williams before the 12-0 Colonial run put the game out of reach.
 
Milwaukee returns home for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff Sunday afternoon against Cleveland State.