December 11, 2009

RedStorm roll past Malone in return home

Rio Grande --- After a nearly month long road trip the University of Rio Grande RedStorm women's basketball team was back at the friendly confines of the Newt Oliver Arena on Friday night playing host to Malone. A 23-0 run in the first half propelled Rio to a 75-40 victory over the Pioneers.

Rio Grande (7-4) trailed 5-2 with about 3 ½ minutes gone in the game when junior guard Jenna Smith (Bellefontaine, OH) started the run with a three-pointer to tie the game. By the time Malone (2-8) stopped the run, Rio had jumped ahead by a score of 25-5. Malone went over nine minutes without scoring during that stretch.

Both teams turned the ball over at alarming rates, but Rio shot the ball well in taking a 43-14 lead to halftime. 

The RedStorm would build the lead to as 39 points (64-25) in the second half. 

Junior forward Candace Black (Sardinia, OH) was a spark plug off the bench as she led the RedStorm in scoring with 16 points, thanks to 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the three-point arc.

Senior Courtney Congrove (Chillicothe, OH) added 11 points while Smith scored 10 points and dished out five assists. Sophomore center Ediesha Cole (Cleveland, OH) nearly captured her first career double-double with nine points (all in the first half) and 14 rebounds. Junior center Ashley Saunders (Amanda, OH) pulled down 11 rebounds on the night. 

Malone was led by Amy Kittle with 10 points. Allyson Wilson, the Pioneer point guard and second leading scorer, had a tough night, scoring only six points and registering nine turnovers. She did lead the Pioneers with 10 rebounds. 

Rio dominated the glass thanks to the work of Cole and Saunders by a margin of 47-31. Malone totaled 35 turnovers while Rio amassed 26 for the game.

Rio Grande head coach David Smalley was happy to get the win, but did not like the number of turnovers that his team racked up. "It's a W and we're trying to build on what we did against College of the Ozarks and I thought we did some nice things tonight," Smalley said. "The little point guard, (Wilson) we did a nice job on her, she's very athletic and active, she still ended up getting 10 rebounds, but I thought Olivia Brown and Kati Moore did a nice job defensively on her."

"Candace Black came in and gave us what I know Candace is capable of doing night in and night out," Smalley added. "I thought Ediesha Cole, coming off the bench, did a tremendous job and we're trying to sell the kids on, any given night it could be any combination, Leah Kendro and Jenna Smith didn't stand out tonight, but you know what, teams are going to try to focus on them and limit their touches."

"And somebody like Candace or Ediesha has got to step up, I was pleased with our bench effort," he said. "But I was not pleased with the fact that we turned the ball over 26 times against a team like that. You shouldn't do that, against better teams that could be the nail in the coffin."

Smalley stated it was a team victory. "This was another great team win, everybody got in, everybody had an opportunity to contribute," he said. "We shot 8-for-20 (from three-point land), we want to get 20 three's up and if we can do that and shoot 40 percent, I think we can beat some teams."

Rio will take the two-game winning streak into the match-up with Shawnee State on Tuesday (December 15) at home. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Stretch Internet will have play-by-play coverage beginning at 5:50 p.m. 

Rio has won only three times in series history with Shawnee State, the last coming February 15, 2005 at the Newt with a last-second 81-79 victory.