In coach Chandler McCabe's 2nd season, Robert Morris women expected to contend for Horizon title

In one season, Robert Morris women’s basketball coach Chandler McCabe went from simply trying to get a once-proud program back on its feet to steering a league championship contender.

A late-season surge boosted the Colonials from a 1-7 Horizon League record to 10-10. RMU even won its Horizon tournament opener.

Now, in McCabe’s second season, Robert Morris is predicted to finish second in the conference. That is all well and good by McCabe, but she isn’t satisfied with simply being a contender.

“No one is going to have higher expectations and pressure for me than me,” she said. “When we don’t do great but we do OK on the floor, I’ll say, ‘That’s second place. Y’all let me know if you wanna move on or if you want to do better.

“Second place is the absolute worst. I’d rather be 11th, quite frankly. … We want to win a championship.”

The Colonials will field a team brimming with local talent, four of whom transferred in from other schools: Aislin Malcolm (Chartiers Valley/Pitt), Bailey Kuhns (Greensburg Central Catholic/Mercyhurst), Ava Leroux (South Fayette/Elon) and Mallory Daly (Seton LaSalle/Buffalo).

Kuhns was a first-team all-Northeast Conference performer at Mercyhurst last season, averaging 19.9 points per game. Malcolm averaged 4.6 points in 21 games for the Panthers.

McCabe expects both to have an immediate impact.

“I’ve never in my career coached someone who plays harder than Bailey,” McCabe said. “… I have to tell her to sit down. I have to tell her to leave the floor.

“Aislin is the scorer. She’s the shooting presence we were missing last year.”

Grad student Jada Lee (Carlynton) provides the veteran leadership. While she might not post eye-popping stats on a nightly basis — she averaged 7.5 points per game and had 71 assists for RMU last season — Lee is the glue who holds the team together.

“I don’t know who our best player is. We have a bunch of good players,” McCabe said. “But Jada is our most important player, and it’s not close. … She knows exactly what to do on the floor at all times on both ends of the floor.”

McCabe is appreciative of the buzz her team created last season with its big finish. She enjoys getting compliments on how she changed the Colonials’ fortunes in such a short time.

Still, she would rather be receiving congratulations on a Horizon League title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

“Don’t get me wrong: I’m not trying to minimize anything we did last year,” she said. “Those kids put their heart and soul on the line for this program. … Our expectation every year is to win a championship, and we did not do that.”

Team breakdowns

Duquesne

Coach: Dan Burt (13th season)

Last season: 21-13, 9-9 A-10

Top returning players: Mackenzie Blackford, so., G, 8.2 ppg; Nadia Moore, so., G, 5.0 ppg

Noteworthy: Burt will be working with an almost entirely new roster that was hit hard by graduations and transfers.

Penn State

Coach: Carolyn Kieger (seventh season)

Last season: 10-19, 1-17 Big Ten

Top returning players: Gracie Merkle, R-jr., C, 15.5 ppg, 8.6 rpg; Moriah Murray, R-jr., G, 10.4 ppg, 73 assists

Noteworthy: Merkle ranked sixth in the Big Ten in rebounding and blocks per game (1.5) and had 15 double-doubles last season.

Pitt

Coach: Tory Verdi (third season)

Last season: 13-19, 5-13 ACC

Top returning players: Mikayla Johnson, R-jr., G, 10.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg

Noteworthy: It was a modest gain, but Pitt made a five-game improvement overall and a three-game improvement in the ACC from Verdi’s first season.

WVU

Coach: Mark Kellogg (third season)

Last season: 25-8, 13-5 Big 12

Top returning players: Jordan Harrison, sr., G, 13.7 ppg, 4.5 apg; Sydney Shaw, sr., G, 11.4 ppg, 57 steals; Jordan Thomas, so., F, 6.2 points, 4.3 rebounds

Noteworthy: Last season marked back-to-back years the Mountaineers won 25 games, a first in program history and the best two-year start for a coach in program history.