Spring Arbor holds off No. 14 RedStorm, 93-84

Rio Grande Sports Information
     SPRING ARBOR, Mich. - Alize Tripp augmented a career-high 36 points with a game-high eight assists, while Alana Nelson added 23 points and a game-best 13 rebounds of her own to lead Spring Arbor University in a 93-84 win over the University of Rio Grande, Saturday afternoon, in non-conference women's basketball action at the McDonald Athletic Center.
     Spring Arbor, which was among the schools receiving votes in the latest NAIA coaches' Top 25 poll, improved to 11-2 with a fifth consecutive win.
     Rio Grande, which was ranked 14th in the same poll, dropped to 11-4 with a second straight loss.
     Despite starting slow for the third time in as many outings, the RedStorm managed a 17-16 advantage at the close of the opening quarter.
     The middle two stanzas, though, proved to be less forgiving.
     The host Cougars put up a combined 51 points over the second and third periods, opening up a 19-point lead, 60-41, following a pair of Emma Smieska free throws with 3:48 remaining in the third quarter.
     Rio Grande refused to go away quietly, though, and closed the deficit to seven on three occasions in the game's final 100 seconds.
     However, Spring Arbor survived the late rally with a stick back off of an offensive rebound by Abby Fleetwood with just over a minute left and four free throws by Tripp in as many attempts over the final 28 seconds.
     Tripp finished 10-for-15 from the floor, including 6-for-8 from beyond the three-point arc, and a perfect 10-for-10 at the free throw line.
     Nelson also hit 10 tries from the charity stripe for the Cougars, going 10-for-12.
     As a team, SAU went 25-for-32 (77.4%) at the foul line and enjoyed a 12-point advantage at the stripe with Rio Grande finishing the contest 13-for-16. The Cougars had 18 free throw attempts before the RedStorm - which was whistled for 27 personal fouls and a technical foul - finally reached the line for the first time inside the final 30 seconds of the opening half.
     Spring Arbor, which also got 10 points from Fleetwood in the win, finished 30-for-59 overall (50.8%) and 8-for-14 from distance (57.1%), while also outrebounding its guests, 39-30.
     Rio Grande shot 45.6 percent for the game (31-for-68), including 9-for-19 from three-point range (47.4%).
     Senior Reagan Willingham (Ashville, OH) led a quartet of double-digit scorers for the RedStorm with 18 points, surpassing the 1,000-point mark for her career in the process, while junior Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg, OH) totaled 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.
     Senior Aleea Crites (Parkersburg, WV) had 12 points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds and game-high two blocked shots before fouling out late, while junior Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH) had 11 points and junior Marina Garcia Perez (Leon, Spain) had a team-high seven assists.
     Rio Grande will look to snap its losing slide on Jan. 3 when it resumes its River States Conference schedule at Indiana University Kokomo.
     Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.