PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – One of only two schools in the Horizon League to have both teams hosting quarterfinal games, it's a showcase for Robert Morris basketball on Thursday in Moon Township.
The women's game against fifth-seeded Northern Kentucky opens action at 5:30p followed by a third meeting between the men and eight-seed Wright State as the teams have split the previous games. RMU winning the first game at home by three and blowing an eight-point lead late to lose in Dayton on February 2. It's the only loss since January 8 for the 23-8 and top-seeded Colonials.
Transfer guard Kam Woods leads the team in points and assists and was one assist shy of a triple-double two games ago. Last year, Woods was part of the NC State team that won the ACC and advanced to the Final Four.
"Just staying poised, even though we have lights on us right now, just keep playing the same game," Woods said of advice to his teammates. "It's the same basketball, March and November. It's going to be intense."
"At some point in time during the course of the year, winning became the most important thing," said head coach Andy Toole of his program that won the Horizon League regular-season title for the first time. "When winning become the number one driver, all of the decisions that flow from that usually are team-oriented, teammate-oriented decisions. These guys have done a great job with it."
Defense has been a staple, with the second-best points allowed mark in the conference.
"Defense is all about your heart, for real," said junior Amarion Dickerson, named Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year. "It's all about you wanting to do it. You have to be able to play defense to be a championship-level team."
"You don't want to go through the summer regretting it," Woods aid saying effort is critical Thursday night. "The whole summer you will be thinking about the last game, whether it's today, next week or in March Madness. Just give it all you got, whether we come up short or not, you don't want to regret all summer. That's all you are going to think about every day you pick up a basketball."
"If you win, you can live free."
RMU women
Picked to finish 11th in the Horizon League, the fourth-seeded RMU women's basketball team (14-15 overall, 10-10 conference) hasn't forgotten. The number 11 is written on a piece of paper that hangs over the door where the team leaves the locker room for the court.
"No one likes to be told they are going to be last even before even showing," said graduate student and Uniontown HS alum Mya Murray. "Especially with the huge group of transfers that we have. Proving everyone wrong for being doubted."
"It's always fun for me to be the underdog because every game you go into, people think you are going to lose," said senior Isys Grady. "People always think you are last to behind with. Go out there and prove them wrong."
"We wanted to be in the conversation year one," said head coach Chandler McCabe. "I said it. I don't think a lot of people believed it and here we are hosting a quarterfinal game."
McCabe, in her first season at Robert Morris and as a head coach, said the UPMC Events Center is electric when there is energy in the building and their team feeds off it. She said it would mean everything to them for a good crowd for the 5:30p tip.
