MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – The Purdue Fort Wayne women’s basketball nearly completed an 11-point comeback for a road Horizon League win on Saturday (Jan. 1), but Robert Morris came away with a 52-48 win in the UPMC Events Center.

After RMU drilled a 3-pointer to open the third quarter, the Mastodons went on a 9-0 run of their own. The ‘Dons got 3-pointers from Riley Ott, Aubrey Stupp and Shayla Sellers over four possessions. While the ‘Dons never took the lead after being up 2-0, they closed the gap to just one twice in the fourth quarter. With 4:39 left, Sellers hit a free throw for one of her game-high 14 points. A minute later, Jazzlyn Linbo answered a mid-range jumper from RMU with a layup for two of her seven points.

The Colonials led by five with 44 seconds left, but Stupp made them sweat by converting an old-fashioned 3-point play, one of her three traditional triples.

The rebounding battle was the biggest reason that the Mastodons were close with the Colonials down the stretch. Purdue Fort Wayne dominated the offensive glass, finishing with 19 o-boards. The ‘Dons ended up having a 43-29 edge in rebounds over RMU thanks to 11 from Amellia Bromenschenkel, which marked a career-high for the sophomore. The ‘Dons got 12 second-chance points while keeping RMU to just one.

The Mastodons’ 19 offensive rebounds were the most in a league game since they had 24 at Western Illinois on January 19, 2019.

The ‘Dons had 12 turnovers, their lowest against a Division I opponent this season.

Purdue Fort Wayne falls to 4-9, 3-3 Horizon League, while RMU improves to 5-6, 3-3. The Mastodons will return home for a game on January 6 against Oakland. The Golden Grizzlies had their New Year’s Day game canceled due to COVID-19 issues within their program.