Rio women pull away, pound Pioneers

Rio Grande Sports Information
     PITTSBURGH, Pa. - After nearly coughing up a 13-point halftime lead, the University of Rio Grande women's basketball team finally put the pedal to the metal and never let up.
     The RedStorm used a 21-3 run which bridged the final five minutes of the third quarter and the first 4:46 of the final stanza to fuel a 90-68 rout of Point Park University, Tuesday night, in River States Conference action at the CCAC-Allegheny Campus Gymnasium.
     Rio Grande, which was ranked 16th in the most recent NAIA Top 25 poll, improved to 8-1 overall and 2-0 inside the RSC with a third straight win.
     Point Park slipped to 3-5 overall and 0-3 against conference foes.
     The Pioneers led throughout a large portion of the first and enjoyed a 35-28 advantage after a three-pointer by Alexis Giles with 6:51 left in the opening half.
     But Rio Grande responded with a 20-0 run to close the half and found itself with a 48-35 cushion at the intermission.
     Point Park went back to work, though, and methodically cut the deficit down to one, 56-55, following a three-pointer by Natalia Fontanez-Waid with 5:00 remaining in the third quarter.
     However, that's when the RedStorm went about gaining control once and for all.
     The Pioneers managed only one point for the rest of the period and only two points in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter as Rio built a 77-58 lead after a conventional three-point play by senior Ella Skeens (Chillicothe, OH) with 5:14 left in the contest.
     Point Park got no closer than 14 points the rest of the way and trailed by as many as 24 points inside the final minute of the game.
     Skeens finished with a game-high 30 points, 13 rebounds and four steals, while also handing out four assists.
     Junior Lexi Woods (Waverly, OH), who returned to action after missing the previous two games with flu-like symptoms, added a season-high 17 points and 10 rebounds to the winning effort, while sophomore Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg, OH) had 15 points.
     Sophomore Natalie Kalaydjiev (Vienna, Austria) nearly had a third double-double outing for Rio, finishing with nine points and nine rebounds, while sophomore Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH) tied a career-high with seven assists.
     The RedStorm tallied 24 assists as a team on their 32 made field goals, while also going 23-for-29 at the foul line (79.3%) and finishing with a whopping 58-37 advantage in rebounding.
     Point Park also hurt its cause by going 7-for-15 at the free throw line (46.7%) and committing 22 turnovers which led directly to 23 Rio points.
     Giles led the Pioneers with 16 points, while Taylor Rinn had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
     Emma Pavelek added 11 points in a losing cause, while Ari Bleda had nine points to go along with three assists and three blocked shots.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Saturday afternoon when RSC East Division rival WVU-Tech visits the Newt Oliver Arena for a 1 p.m. tipoff.