RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Even a red-hot first half performance by Rio Grande's Shardae Morrison-Fountain and the loss of one of its top players - possibly for the season - couldn't deter seventh-ranked Shawnee State from spoiling the RedStorm's regular season home finale.
After losing senior guard - and All-American candidate - Abby Ballman to an apparent broken arm with just under 2-1/2 minutes to play before halftime, the Bears roared to life after the intermission and rolled to an 85-74 victory, Saturday afternoon, in Mid-South Conference women's basketball action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
Shawnee improved to 25-4 overall and 14-2 in the MSC, nailing down the No. 2 seed in the next weekend's conference tournament.
Rio Grande closed the regular season at 17-13 overall and 6-10 in the league and will be the tourney's No. 7 seed, meaning that the two rivals will meet again in the MSC quarterfinals on Thursday, at 6 p.m., at the Frankfort Convention Center in Frankfort, Ky.
Thanks to Morrison-Fountain, a junior guard from Columbus, Ohio, who scored 28 of her career-high 32 points in the first half, Rio never trailed by more than five points and held the lead seven different times before the break on Saturday, including 46-45 at the intermission.
The RedStorm managed just 10 points over the first 13-plus minutes of the second stanza, though, as Shawnee built a 19-point lead with 6:59 remaining.
The Bears' lead eventually reached as many as 20 points, 83-63, following a pair of Alex Pohl free throws with 3:40 left, while Rio scored 11 of the game's final 13 points to make the final score a bit more respectable.
Morrison-Fountain, who hit six three-pointers in her first half offensive explosion, scored just four points over the final 20 minutes - the final four points of the game for the RedStorm, well after the final outcome had been determined.
Senior Kaylee Helton (Lucasville, OH) added 17 points and a team-high six rebounds in her final appearance at home for Rio.
Helton drew the ire of the Shawnee team and its fans with her foul of Ballman at the 2:27 mark of the first half. Ballman stole the ball away from Helton and, as she was going in for a layup, was fouled by Helton.
The foul, although hard, appeared clean, but it caused Ballman to lose her balance and go sprawling into the padding along the wall under the basket, where she suffered what appeared to be a broken arm. She left the gymnasium shortly thereafter in a sling bound for a nearby hospital.
Schera Sampson led the Bears in the win with 19 points, while Alannah Sheets finished with 17. Pohl added 12 points and 10 rebounds for Shawnee, which shot 60.7 percent from the field (17-for-28) in the second half.
Rio hit just eight of its 26 second half field goal tries (30.8%) and was outrebounded, 41-29, for the game.
