Women's action: lady Colonials win sixth straight, improve to 7-1 in NEC

by Aaron Hartman, Contributor

The RMU Women’s team won their sixth straight game against Farleigh Dickinson Monday night to improve to 7-1 in the NEC.

The FDU game was not the prettiest game the women’s team has ever played, as they won 67-58. The score was tied very late in the second half against a team that has one win all season and zero wins in the NEC. However, the ladies proved that even if they are not playing their best game, they have the poise to finish a game strong. The Colonials began to pull away with about two minutes left and at that point they won the game from the free throw line.

The team has been playing easily their best basketball of the season during this win streak. Their average margin of victory during the streak is over 12 points. In conference play, the ladies are averaging 69.8 points per game and holding their opponents to 62 points per game. They are rebounding at a rate of 46.5 rebounds per game and holding their opponents to 38.5 rebounds per game.

Artemis Spanou is dominating the NEC (p/c: Chris Bombardo)

The only blemish on their conference record is a 14 point loss at Sacred Heart in the second conference game of the season. Luckily, the ladies get another chance at Sacred Heart on February 10 in the Sewall Center, where they have not lost since before winter break.

At this point, Artemis Spanou is a shoo-in for NEC player of the year. She is making a serious case for the best player in NEC women’s basketball history. So far in 2014, Artemis has had a share of the team high in points and in rebounds for every game. Not to mention she set the all-time NEC record for rebounds during the home Fairleigh Dickinson game earlier this season. She also holds the NEC double-double record. Both records were previously held by former WNBA player Jess Zinobile.

The whole team has been playing spectacular basketball, but two players in particular have looked very good as of late. Freshman point guard Janee Brown has been great at the 1 spot for the entire season. Nothing on the stat sheet jumps out, but where she excels is having a great amount of poise at a position that is not easy to play and handling it well. Redshirt Junior Jolie Olingende has taken over at the 5 spot over Cassie Oursler, and has played very well. She adds a nice amount of points from the paint and takes a good bit of pressure off of Artie.

Freshman guard Anna Niki Stamolamprou has been impressive all season. She can play point guard, but can also move over to shooting guard when Janee is on the court as well. She shoots the 3 ball as well as anybody on the team, and she makes her free throws better than anybody on the team.

The youth on the team is certainly encouraging. Three freshmen (Stamolamprou, Oursler, Brown) get regular playing time. Britta Emberg, Kelly Hartwell, and of course, Artemis Spanou are the only players who will be graduating in spring.

The team could certainly improve their free throws. Artemis has taken 126 free throws, which is more than double any other player’s free throw total, but is only shooting .683. If there is a chink in Spanou’s armor, it’s her free throw percentage. Only two ladies are shooting over .700, Anna Niki Stamolamprou, and Rebeca Navarro.

In terms of depth, there are nine ladies who play over ten minutes per game. The bench play is solid, especially by the guards. With so many diverse athletes on the team this year, Coach Sal has a great deal of players to choose from for multiple occasions. One point of concern is that Artemis is averaging 36.7 minutes per game. She played every second of the FDU game. I don’t believe fatigue will be a factor for Artie by the end of the season, but it is certainly something to notice.

The next game is Saturday, February 1 at Mount St. Mary’s. This will be a crucial game against one of the few opponents the Women’s team has not faced this season. The Mount boast a 5-3 conference record, and are very much in the hunt for first place.

Hopefully, the team can carry this momentum into their future contests and come away at the end of this season as NEC regular season Champions. They certainly have the talent to. Currently, the Ladies sit in a very good spot as they are the sole holders of first place. As long as the team keeps playing the way they have during this streak, next to nothing can stop the ladies from securing the regular season conference championship.