RedStorm lights up scoreboard in rout of Eagles

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Once upon a time, reaching the 100-point mark in a basketball game was regarded as a big deal.
     For the 2022-23 University of Rio Grande women's team, hitting triple figures has become as regular as the sun rising in the morning and setting at the close of day.
     The 13th-ranked RedStorm surpassed the century mark for the fifth straight time and for the 11th time this season on Tuesday night in a 110-82 rout of Alice Lloyd College at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Head coach David Smalley's team, which leads the NAIA in a number of offensive categories, including scoring average at 95.9 points per game, improved to 24-3 overall and 15-1 in league play with the victory.
     Alice Lloyd dropped to 17-7 overall and 10-6 in the RSC with its second loss of the year at the hands of Rio.
     The Eagles led twice inside the game's opening 2-1/2 minutes, but the majority of the night belonged to the host RedStorm.
     Rio Grande closed the opening quarter on a 16-7 run for a 30-20 lead and tacked on 29 more points in the second period en route to a 59-44 halftime advantage.
     ALC opened the second half with a 6-1 spurt of its own and pulled to within 10 points at 60-50 following a bucket by Madison Thompson with 8:07 left in the third quarter, but that's as close as the Eagles managed to get the rest of the way.
     The RedStorm roared to life again, pushing their cushion to 20 points by the close of the stanza and to as many as 30 points, 103-73, after senior Reagan Willingham (Ashville, OH) drilled one of her three three-point goals with 3:19 remaining in the game.
     Rio shot 52 percent as a team overall (39-for-75), while going 6-for-11 from three-point range (54.5%) and a sizzling 26-for-29 at the free throw line (89.7%).
     Senior Ella Skeens (Chillicothe, OH) led a quintet of double-digit scorers for the RedStorm with 27 points, while sophomore Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg, OH) scored 12 points and handed out a season-high eight assists.
     Willingham and sophomore Harlei Antritt (Newark, OH) finished with 11 points each, while junior Lexi Woods (Waverly, OH) netted 10. Antritt also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
     Junior Aleea Crites (Parkersburg, WV) also had a career-best five steals for Rio, which had 13 of its 14 players in uniform score at least two points.
     Alice Lloyd had respectable shooting percentages of its own, going 29-for-66 overall (43.9%), 12-for-27 from beyond the arc (44.4%) and 12-for-17 at the charity stripe (70.6%).
     However, the Eagles were outrebounded, 44-32, and hurt their own cause with 21 turnovers that led directly to 30 Rio Grande points.
     Hannah Kash scored a game-high 33 points in a losing cause, while Bailee Brainard had 13 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots and Shelby Stewart had 11 points off the bench.
     Hannah Malcomson and Katie Jo Moore had four assists each for ALC, while Thompson also recorded four blocked shots.
     Rio Grande will close out its regular season schedule on Saturday when it hosts Carlow University for Senior Day.
     Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.