February 21, 2010

RedStorm women fall at Cumberlands

Williamsburg, Ky. --- The University of Rio Grande RedStorm women's basketball team continued its current road trip with a match-up at NAIA No. 16 Cumberlands (KY) on Saturday afternoon. Rio had a strong first half, but in the end could not overcome its foul trouble in falling to the Patriot ladies 75-63. 

Rio Grande (15-13, 6-6 MSC) struggled early as the RedStorm fell behind 16-5 at the 14:08 mark of the first half. After a timeout, Rio Grande went on a 13-2 run to tie the game at 18-18 with 9:58 remaining in the first half. The run was capped by a three-pointer from sophomore guard Mara Howell (Covington, OH).

The final 10 minutes was a back-and-forth affair that saw the score tied five times. Rio built the lead to 36-29 in the first half. Cumberlands (21-7, 10-2 MSC) ended the half on a 10-3 run. Rio hit a bucket in the closing seconds to lead 39-37 at halftime.

The Patriot ladies used a 12-0 run late in the game to gain control. Cumberlands went from four down (56-52) to eight ahead (64-56) during the run. 

Rio had only two players score in double figures with Howell and junior center Ashley Saunders (Amanda, OH) leading the way with 12 points each. Howell scored all of her from beyond the three-point arc on the strength of 4-of-6 shooting. Saunders tied fellow post player Ediesha Cole (Cleveland, OH) for team leadership in rebounds with seven. 

Cumberlands was led by Lauren Martin's 21 points and eight rebounds. Lauren Wombles added 18 points and eight rebounds and Stephanie Quattrociocchi chipped in 17 points off the bench. Haley Ratliff led all players with eight assists. 

Foul trouble was a big problem for the RedStorm as they were whistled for 26 fouls. Five players amassed four fouls each in the game. 

"I thought we played extremely well and I was really pleased and proud of our bench," said Rio Grande head coach David Smalley. "Mara Howell came off the bench and really gave us a big spark and I thought Ediesha Cole gave us a lot of great minutes."

"We had support people that came in and did some really nice things," Smalley added. "We just found ourselves in a foul situation. We played well enough down the stretch to win, we had our opportunities, but the big difference was we went to the line 14 times in the first half and only twice in the second half and when we got to the line it was under a minute."

"That was a huge difference in the game."

Second chance points and points in the paint were huge in favor of Cumberlands. UC out-scored Rio 38-20 in the paint and 15-4 in second chance points. 

With the loss, Rio falls back into a tie with Lindsey Wilson College for fourth place at 6-6. 

The University of the Cumberlands gets the season sweep of Rio Grande and heads into the final week of the regular season firmly in second place in the MSC. 

Rio will close out its three-game road swing on Thursday at Pikeville College. Rio knocked off Pikeville College in round one at the Newt Oliver Arena, 87-68 on January 28. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Stretch Internet will have play-by-play coverage beginning at 5:50 p.m.