February 13, 2010

RedStorm women fall to .500 in MSC

Rio Grande --- The University of Rio Grande RedStorm women's basketball team played host to NAIA No. 8 Campbellsville on Saturday afternoon at the Newt Oliver Arena. The visitors came in with a 17-game winning streak and had not been beaten within the Mid-South Conference. Rio Grande played well early, despite accumulating a high number of turnovers, but in the end the RedStorm fell short 79-67.

Rio Grande (14-12, 5-5 MSC) fell to .500 in league play with the loss. 

The game started well for Rio Grande as the RedStorm surged out to an 11-3 lead. Campbellsville (25-1, 10-0 MSC) overcame a sluggish start and battled back to take a 30-29 lead in the final 10 seconds of the first half. Rio's Jenna Smith (Bellefontaine, OH) answered with a hoop just before the buzzer to give Rio a 31-30 lead at halftime.

Rio shot well from the field overall, connecting on 25-of-56 (44.6 percent) attempts, but struggled from three-point land, making only 5-of-15 (33.3 percent). The RedStorm committed 24 turnovers and were plagued by foul trouble for the second consecutive game.

Smith led the RedStorm in scoring with 19 points and was the only Rio player to have any success from long range as she hit 3-of-7 from outside the arc. She also pulled down six rebounds. Junior point guard Bre Davis (Marietta, OH) added 14 points, five rebounds and seven assists before fouling out late in the game. Junior forward Leah Kendro (Strongsville, OH) chipped in 12 points and hauled in seven caroms. Junior center Ashley Saunders (Amanda, OH) matched Kendro with seven rebounds. 

Rio did manage to out-rebound Campbellsville, 41-37. 

Campbellsville erupted out of the locker room, scoring the first eight points of the second half to gain control of the game. The Lady Tigers did not trail after halftime. 

MSC Player of the Year candidate Whitney Ballinger had a monster game for the Lady Tigers as she produced a game-high 29 points. She nearly recorded a triple-double with 13 rebounds and eight blocked shots to go along with her 29 points. Wendi Messer added 18 points (15 in the second half). Messer nailed 4-of-6 from beyond the arc in the second half, which provided the visitors with a huge lift. 

The free throw line proved to be a monumental factor in the game as Campbellsville out-scored the RedStorm by 11 points at the charity stripe (23-12). 

"The big difference in our game was the fact of their depth and our lack of depth," said Rio Grande head coach David Smalley. "That was the complete difference in the game."

"We just had some kids that in the last three or four minutes were completely out of gas," he added. "I thought Bre Davis played a tremendous game, did a great job, did the things that we needed her to do, but when you put as many minutes on some of these kids that we're putting them on against a caliber of team like a Campbellsville, the wear and tear is going to show down the stretch."

Rio Grande will travel to St. Catharine on Thursday (February 18). Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Stretch Internet will have play-by-play coverage beginning at 5:50 p.m.

Rio defeated the Patriots 84-66 at the Newt, January 21.