Robert Morris women's basketball preview: With talented sophomore Sol Castro, better things could be on Horizon

There was nothing simple about Sol Castro’s first year with the Robert Morris women’s basketball team.

Between playing during a pandemic, navigating numerous quarantines throughout the season and adjusting to life away from home for the first time, Castro dealt with hurdle after hurdle as a freshman.

Oh yeah, and she is from Argentina. And she had never been to the United States until her first day on the Robert Morris campus in September 2020. And she was taking classes in a new language.

“I remember (my first day at Robert Morris) was kind of like a movie, like a dream,” Castro said. “I remember being here and thinking to myself, this is like ‘High School Musical’ because the buildings, the people, how they dress, the whole culture that was new to me.”

Castro’s mom is an English teacher, so she took extra classes to help her prepare. But she studied British English and quickly discovered the differences.

“I tried to know the jargon as much as possible because that’s the hardest part is when people are talking to you really fast and they are using words that you don’t learn in British English or abbreviations,” said Castro, who also credited watching Netflix shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy” with subtitles on to help her learn.

“Sometimes it’s kind of hard because instead of saying isn’t or don’t, some people say ‘ain’t,’ and you’re like, ‘What’s that?’ because I didn’t learn that. That’s not part of the grammar. That’s not formal. That’s not part of my vocabulary.”

Once she got on the court, though, Castro produced almost immediately. The 6-foot-1 forward became the first freshman to lead the Colonials in scoring since 2001-02, averaging 9.9 points along with a team-high 5.5 rebounds en route to earning Horizon League All-Freshman honors.

Castro spent the summer playing for the Argentina national team and was named preseason second-team All-Horizon League.

“Sol moves well for her size and stature,” said sixth-year Robert Morris coach Charlie Buscaglia, whose team was picked ninth out of 12 teams in the league’s preseason poll. “She moves with a great pace. She can guard guards on the perimeter. She can bang with the bigs inside. She can post up inside, and she can face up, and we’re looking forward to going further with all of that, extending her range and refining her inside game.”

The Colonials went 4-13 last season, which was their first year in the Horizon League. They probably want a mulligan, though, after quarantines caused the cancellation of 35 of 40 preseason practice days and every nonconference game.

“The mental health part of last year, and, obviously, the fitness and physical health was a big challenge,” Buscaglia said.

The Horizon League also was a significant step up from the Northeast Conference, where Robert Morris won the regular-season title from 2017-20. Horizon League champion Wright State, which Robert Morris beat twice last season, knocked off Arkansas in the NCAA Tournament last winter.

In addition to Castro, two other starters return: graduate student guard Nina Augustin (6.7 points per game last season, team-best 22 3-pointers) and senior guard Esther Castedo (9.2 ppg). Senior swing player Natalie Villaflor (3.7 ppg, 2.9 ppg) and sophomore guard Mackenzie Amalia (3.7) also will play major roles. Amalia was a first-team all-state selection at Blackhawk as a senior.

“I really love that nucleus coming back that had that experience from last season,” said Buscaglia, whose team opens Tuesday at St. Bonaventure. “Those girls should come back and really understand the level we’re looking to go toward and how we’re building.”