Robert Morris showed why it has one of the best defenses in the nation in their 59-36 victory over Saint Francis Brooklyn.

The Colonials scored just 11 points in the first quarter. On the other side of the ball, the Colonials made history by displaying one of their best defensive efforts ever, limiting the visiting Terriers in one quarter to just one point.

A made free throw from Amy O’Neill was all the scoring St. Francis had in the first 10 minutes. This is the least amount of points given up in a quarter in program history.

“It’s a great accomplishment. We worked really hard as a team. We made sure we didn’t let any easy baskets go in,” said Mikalah Mulrain.

The ball wasn’t going in for RMU either. 10 of the team’s 11 points came on just 31 percent shooting from the field. Both Mulrain and head coach Charlie Buscaglia cited the team’s defense as a way to stay confident in shooting the ball.

“We were getting at it defensively. When you’re defending well and you’re going after it hard, you have a lot of confidence that you’re going to continue to get out of a shooting rut,” said Coach Buscaglia.

To overcome their scoring woes, the Colonials turned to their deep bench for a spark. The duo of Nina Augustin and Laura Carrasco was enough to get the Colonials going.

“In some matchups. Augustin did a great job today of playing at a great pace, she handled the ball well, made some nice passes and read the floor well. She played a lot of minutes, more than she’s used to; but she did such a great job,” said Coach Buscaglia.

Mikalah Mulrain played a fantastic game. In the second quarter, she looked unstoppable, putting up nine points and pulling down four rebounds. When it was all over Mulrain finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and a block. Notching her sixth career double-double.

The Colonials went on to outscore the Terriers 20-7 in the second quarter alone.

The game will go down in the record books closer than it was on the court. St. Francis Brooklyn scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, more than they scored in the other three quarters combined.

The next game for the Colonials is Saturday, Jan. 13 as they play host to St. Francis University at 1 p.m.