No. 7 Wildcats rally past No. 12 RedStorm

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Lilli Frasure scored 17 of her game- and career-high 32 points in the final quarter, leading a furious comeback effort by seventh-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University and an eventual 81-77 triumph over the 12th-ranked University of Rio Grande, Monday afternoon, in non-conference women's basketball action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     The game was originally scheduled to be played last Friday in Marion, Ind., but was postponed and then moved to Rio at the request of IWU officials.
     The contest - just the third meeting ever between the two programs - also marked the first time that two Top 15 women's basketball teams squared off inside the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Indiana Wesleyan pushed its record to 12-3 with the win.
     Rio Grande, which had an eight-game winning streak snapped, fell to 13-2 with the loss.
     The RedStorm appeared primed to notch an upset victory, leading by as many as 10 points early and trailing just once through the game's first three stanzas.
     But the Wildcats reeled off 28 fourth quarter points - all but 11 of which were scored by Frasure - to complete their come-from-behind victory.
     A steal and layup by Jordan Reid with 7:05 left in the game gave IWU its second lead of the day, 62-60, and the Wildcats stretched their advantage to four points three separate times before Rio senior Ella Skeens (Chillicothe, OH) reeled off five consecutive points to give the RedStorm a 73-72 edge following a conventional three-point play with 3:18 remaining.
     Unfortunately, the lead didn't last long and it never returned.
     Frasure scored four points in a 6-0 Wildcat spurt following Skeens' go-ahead play which gave IWU its largest lead of the game, 78-73, with 2:01 left.
     Rio Grande pulled to within one, 78-77, after two free throws by sophomore Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH) with 56.3 seconds to play, but failed to regain the lead after Williams misfired on a pair of free throw tries with 32.5 secons left.
     Frasure hit two free throws with 20.7 seconds remaining to push the lead to 80-77 and - after Rio's ensuing possession failed to produce points - Klair Merrell nailed one of her two tries from the charity stripe with 8.0 seconds left to make it a two-possession game and seal the victory.
     Frasure went 6-for-9 from the field, including a three-pointer, and was 4-for-4 at the foul line in the fourth quarter for IWU.
     She also finished with a game-high 10 rebounds.
     Jade Nutley also hit double figures for the Wildcats, finishing with 22 points. Kelli Damman added five assists in the winning effort.
     Skeens poured in 28 points to lead Rio Grande, while sophomore Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg, OH) netted 16 points. Williams had a game-best nine assists in the loss, while sophomore Harlei Antritt (Newark, OH) and junior Jocelyn Abraham (Exchange, WV) had nine rebounds.
     The RedStorm did out-rebound the Wildcats, 44-36, but committed 21 turnovers which led to a 23-10 IWU advantage in points off of turnovers.
     The RedStorm will return to action on Tuesday night when they jump back into River States Conference play by hosting Indiana University Kokomo.
     Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.