Darnell sets new career-high in Rio blowout of Carlow

Rio Grande Sports Information
     PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The University of Rio Grande women's basketball has long been known for its offensive prowess over the course of head coach David Smalley's 31-year tenure.
     However, the RedStorm put on quite the show in Saturday afternoon's River States Conference matchup with Carlow University.
     Smalley's club built a 25-point halftime lead and followed it up with a 38-point third quarter explosion en route to a 115-52 rout of the Celtics at Oakland Catholic High School's Donahue Pavilion.
     Rio Grande, ranked No. 14 in the most recent NAIA coaches' Top 25 poll, improved to 10-1 overall and 4-0 in conference play with the win.
     The 115 points were the most in a single game for the program since a 129-68 victory over Miami University-Hamilton on Dec. 30, 2021. The 63-point margin of victory was Rio's largest mark since a 69-point, 109-40, rout of - Carlow - on Feb. 8, 2022.
     Carlow, which is in its final season as a member of the NAIA and the RSC before joining the ranks of NCAA Division III next fall, dropped to 4-8 overall and 0-5 in the league with a second consecutive loss.
     The Celtics, who didn't arrive home from their Friday night game against Hilbert College in upstate New York until 2:30 a.m., hung around to some degree early on thanks to a 7-for-22 shooting start by Rio (31.8%), but the RedStorm outscored their hosts, 67-24, over the middle two periods to turn the game into a full-fledged blowout.
     Included in the offensive onslaught was the 38-point third quarter, which saw Rio hit 14 of its 21 field goal attempts (66.7%) and eight of its nine tries at the free throw line.
     Sophomore Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg, OH) helped the RedStorm build their commanding halftime cushion with 21 of her career-best 27 points - 13 of which came in the second quarter.
     Senior Ella Skeens (Chillicothe, OH), the reigning RSC and NAIA Player of the Week, led the third quarter blitz by scoring half of her 20 points in the period.
     Sophomore Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH) had 10 points to go along with a career-best 10 assists in the winning effort, while junior Lexi Woods (Waverly, OH) also had 10 points and junior Jocelyn Abraham (Exchange, WV) tied a career-high with 11 rebounds.
     For the game, Rio Grande finished 43-for-88 overall (48.9%), including a season-high nine three-pointers, and was 20-for-25 at the foul line (80.0%).
     The RedStorm, who had 12 of their 13 players in uniform score, also tallied 24 assists as a team and enjoyed a whopping 59-27 edge in rebounding.
     Rio also recorded 20 steals towards Carlow's 28 turnovers and had a 32-9 edge in points off of turnovers. Junior Lavender Ward (Charleston, WV) had five steals, while Darnell and Skeens swiped three each.
     Carlow got 11 points each from Emiley Hillgartner and Megan Ost. Hillgartner also had four assists, three blocked shots and two steals.
     Sydney Carr had five rebounds to lead the Celtics, who shot just 37.9 percent for the game (22-for-58) while suffering a 27th loss in 29 all-time meetings with Rio.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Tuesday night when it hits the road again for RSC action at Alice Lloyd College.
     Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. in Pippa Passes, Ky.