Skeens leads Rio women to rout of Golden Bears

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The last time that the University of Rio Grande women's basketball team squared off with West Virginia University-Tech, it took a buzzer-beating tip-in by Ella Skeens for the RedStorm to dismiss the Golden Bears.
     Saturday afternoon's first meeting between the two programs since the dramatic climax to their River States Conference Tournament semifinal, wasn't close to reaching cliffhanger status.
     Skeens poured in a game-high 38 points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds to pace Rio in a 91-68 thumping of its RSC East Division rival at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande, ranked No. 14 in the latest NAIA Top 25 poll, improved to 9-1 overall and 3-0 in conference play with the win.
     WVU-Tech, which entered play with a one-half game lead over the RedStorm for the division lead, slipped to 9-3 overall and 3-1 in the RSC.
     Skeens, a senior from Chillicothe, Ohio, had 23 of her points and 11 of her rebounds in the opening half as the RedStorm took a 40-33 lead at the intermission.
     Sophomore guard Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg, OH) joined Skeens' effort in putting away the Golden Bears after the break.
     Darnell, who scored all five of her first half points from the free throw line, scored 15 more over the final two periods to finish with 20 points.
     Tech, which had cut an 18-point second quarter deficit down to five, 40-35, after a Faith Silva layup just 26 seconds into the third stanza got no closer the rest of the way.
     Rio extended its advantage to 17 points by the close of the third quarter and continued to pull away down the stretch, taking a 26-point cushion, 84-58, following a bucket by Skeens with 4:27 left in the contest.
     Skeens finished 15-for-28 from the floor, including 2-for-3 from three-point range, and connected on all six of her free throw attempts. She also had a game-high five steals.
     The RedStorm shot 40.5 percent as a team (32-for-79) and a sizzling 88.5 percent at the foul line (23-for-26), while also enjoying a whopping 56-38 edge in rebounding. Junior Lexi Woods (Waverly, OH) matched Skeens with 14 rebounds of her own.
     WVU-Tech connected on 24 of its 64 overall field goal attempts (37.5%), but went just 3-for-14 from beyond the three-point arc (21.4%) and 17-for-25 at the foul line (68.0%).
     The Golden Bears also committed 26 turnovers, which led directly to 25 Rio points. The RedStorm had 19 turnovers, but Tech only managed nine points off the miscues.
     Ca'Vashia Johnson led the Bears with 15 points and four assists, while Alva Hedrich added 13 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.
     Silva, who entered the game as her team's leading scorer at just over 19 points per contest, was limited to eight points on 4-for-13 shooting. She also misfired on all four of her three-point attempts.
     Rio Grande will return to action next Saturday when it returns to Pittsburgh for the second time in 11 days to face Carlow University.
     Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at Oakland Catholic High School's Donahue Pavilion.