MOON TOWNSHIP — “I want you to understand, Bella Posset commited to us as a sophomore. This was a long-time coming,” said RMU women’s basketball head coach Charlie Buscaglia as he sat upon the podium after his Colonials had just defeated the Saint Francis Red Flash in the NEC championship game. “We had to wait over two years and we were anxiously waiting for this moment and this type of situation.”

The freshman from Beaver had an absolutely incredible first quarter of play for the Colonials in which she scored 10 points including a buzzer-beater at the end of the quarter that gave the Colonials an early 20-12 lead over their bitter rivals the Saint Francis Red Flash in the NEC championship game.

Posset’s electric play shot its way into the veins of this top-seeded Colonials squad as the life Posset gave them carried into the game’s final minutes as Robert Morris stood alone as champions of the Northeast Conference, earning their fourth NCAA tournament berth in the past six years.

But Posset, another mold of the Charlie Buscaglia culture of passion, humilty and servanthood, simply does it for the love of her team and the game.

When asked about getting such major minutes as a freshman, Posset replied “I set standards for myself to come in and give as much as I could for the team and for myself.”

The effort, passion and intensity can be seen on both sides of the court as Posset plays just as hard on the defensive side of the field as she does offensively.

After earning her first start on Dec. 15 against Pitt-Johnstown, Posset went on to start the rest of the season, finishing with totals of 7.7 PPG, 2.7 APG, 2.7 RPG and 1.9 SPG.

Posset’s 1.9 steals per game are good enough to rank 5th in the NEC even outgaining NEC defensive player of the year and teammate Nneka Ezeigbo in that category.

Before even coming to Robert Morris, Posset was a star for Beaver high school as she dominated the competition en route to becoming the first recruit to come from Pittsburgh for the Colonials on scholarship since 2010.

The star of the team, Posset led Beaver to their first ever appearance in the WPIAL championship. Her accolades in her senior year alone include: Beaver County Times Player of the Year, WPIAL Section 2-4A Player of the Year, PIAA First Team All-State, Section 2-4A First Team, Times Top 20 and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Fab Five honors.

Posset has the makings of a star and is sporting a legendary number on the court. The number 4 she sports in play was last worn in 2017 by the second all-time leading scorer in program history, Anna-Niki Stamolamprou who helped guide the Colonials to three NCAA tournaments during her tenure.

But the thing which stands out most about Posset is no matter the situation, Posset always has a smile on her face. “I don’t want people to know I’m down or I’m happy so automatically I smile through whatever call I get, whatever happens to me. I might miss a shot, have a shot blocked no matter what I’m just going to smile, get back on defense and try to get the ball back,” said Posset in an interview with RMU Sentry media in January.

While Posset has now been to the WPIAL championship and the NEC championship, this will be here first time in the NCAA tournament in what is hoped to be the first of many by those supporting the Colonials.

But through not even one full season of play, Posset has proven she is worth the wait.