Rio Grande Sports Information
    RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Senior guard Kaylee Helton (Lucasville, OH) scored a game-high 23 points and junior guard Shardae Morrison-Fountain (Columbus, OH) added 20 more to lead the University of Rio Grande past the University of Pikeville, 82-65, Thursday night, in Mid-South Conference women's basketball action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
    Freshman guard Noelani Woodson (Groveport, OH) chipped in with 12 points, while sophomore center Brooke Shaw (Waynesfield, OH) added a season-high 10 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds for the RedStorm, who improved to 12-5 overall and 3-2 in league play with their second straight victory.
   "We turned it over too much and we didn't play well at times but, overall, I was pretty pleased," said Rio Grande head coach David Smalley, whose team survived 21 turnovers to get the win. "We got some good minutes tonight from our kids off the bench, particularly (freshman forward) Janie (Morris) and Noelani, and it was nice to see Brooke Shaw score a little bit, in addition to being productive on the boards."
    Morrison-Fountain scored 13 of her 20 points, Shaw had eight of her 10 and Morris scored all six of her points in the opening half as Rio Grande built a 48-34 lead at the intermission.
    Helton, who had all but six of her points after the break, connected on a layup on the opening possession of the second stanza for the RedStorm to extend the advantage to 50-34, but the Bears proceeded to score 15 of the game's next 21 points and closed to within 56-49 following a left wing jumper by Jennifer Grant with 12:10 left in the game.
    Rio responded, though, reeling off a 10-4 run of its own over the next three minutes to push its advantage to 13 points, 66-53, following a three-pointer by Helton with 8:35 remaining. Four different players scored for the RedStorm during the momentum-changing scoring spurt.
    Pikeville, which slipped to 4-14 overall and 0-7 in the MSC with its seventh consecutive loss, didn't have an answer and got no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
    The Bears trailed by as many as 19 points in the game's final minute.
    "We had a couple of stretches where we went brain-dead. We couldn't score and we were throwing the ball all over the place - and a lot of times it was unforced," Smalley said. "We did a better job of taking care of the ball in the second half, plus we hit our free throws and we outrebounded them. If we can iron out a couple of instances of some individuality and some attitudes, I think we've shown we can be a pretty good team. Tonight, we were good enough to get a ‘W'."
    Rio Grande shot 51.7 percent for the game (30-for-58), including an 11-for-22 showing from three-point range. In addition to her game-high scoring total, Helton added a game-best five assists and three steals to the winning effort.
    Pikeville, which started four freshmen and a sophomore, was led by Brogan Conley, who had 18 points and matched Rio's Shaw for game-high honors in rebounding with nine. Whitney Belle Jackson and Sydney Mason finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Bears.
    "Pikeville's not a bad ballclub, they're just young," said Smalley. "If they can stay together, they're going to create some fits for people down the road."
    Rio Grande returns to action on Saturday afternoon, hosting the University of Virginia-Wise in another Mid-South Conference tilt. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at the Newt Oliver Arena.