November 10, 2009

RedStorm women move to 2-0

Rio Grande --- It was a late wake-up call, but it was a wake-up call nonetheless as the University of Rio Grande RedStorm women's basketball team rallied from a 13-point first half deficit to roll past visiting Wilberforce, 95-71, in the home opener to the 2009-10 season on Tuesday night at the Newt Oliver Arena. 

Rio Grande (2-0) struggled in the first half as Wilberforce (1-2) jumped out to a 30-17 lead at the 8:46 mark. From that point on Rio gained control of the game with a 17-4 run over the next 4:05 to get back in the game, trailing 34-32.

Wilberforce would take a 44-43 lead to halftime.

The RedStorm used an 8-0 burst to open the second half as Wilberforce failed to score over the first 4:54 of the second half while Rio built the lead to 51-44.

Rio would stretch the advantage to 62-49 at the 12:25 mark of the second half after junior guard Jenna Smith (Bellefontaine, OH) buried a three-pointer in transition. Smith would end the night as the game's leading scorer with 24 points on the strength of 5-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc. She is 8-for-10 from three-point land out of the gate in 2009-10. 

Rio used a balanced attack and would place two other players in double figures in scoring as junior forward Leah Kendro (Strongsville, OH) added 15 points and junior forward Candace Black (Sardinia, OH) chipped in 14 points. Black sparked the comeback with three key offensive rebounds and 11 points in the first half. Sophomore post player Ediesha Cole (Cleveland, OH) was on the verge of double figures with nine points. 

Cole and Kendro led Rio Grande with five rebounds each. 

Wilberforce gave Rio fits in the first half, but was plagued by foul trouble and lack of the depth as they simply ran out of gas in the second half. Keeahna Fontes paced the Lady Bulldogs with 23 points (14 in the first half). Dai'Tiara Brown added 18 points (12 in the second half). 

"I thought our bench did a tremendous job, I thought we were unselfish, we passed the ball well," said Rio Grande head coach David Smalley. "We turned it over 26 times, but the exciting thing about those turnovers, they were the right decisions it just maybe our angles were not good, the passer and the receiver were not doing the reading that they both should be doing."

"I think it's fixable," Smalley added. "Jenna Smith gave us, what we expect Jenna Smith to do. She was almost perfect, only one turnover, one assist, 24 points, shot the three and I thought Candace Black came in and just did a tremendous job on the offensive boards."

"We had trouble containing them in the open floor," Smalley said. "But once we made a few adjustments and basically, physically just wore them down, I think our 11 players, and we played everybody, were certainly better than they're eight players. They are just one or two players away from being a pretty good team."

Rio will now prepare for the Bevo Francis Classic and will face Midway College on Friday at 6 p.m. Midway is coached by former Rio star player Karley Mohler. 

Stretch Internet will have play-by-play coverage beginning at approximately 5:50 p.m.