Rival Bears deal Rio women first RSC loss

Rio Grande Sports Information
     PORTSMOUTH, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande women's basketball team had its sights set on spoiling all of the Senior Day activities planned by rival Shawnee State University.
     Instead, it was the Bears who spoiled the RedStorm's hopes of running through the River States Conference regular season schedule unbeaten.
     Shawnee State outscored head coach David Smalley's club in all four quarters and led from start to finish in a convincing 84-65 win over Rio Grande, Saturday afternoon, in the regular season finale for both teams at the Frank & Janis Waller Gymnasium.
     The Bears improved to 19-9 overall and 11-6 in conference play with the win, while also securing the No. 4 seed in next week's RSC Championship Tournament.
     Rio Grande, which had a 12-game winning streak snapped, fell to 23-5 overall and 16-1 in the RSC with its first loss of the calendar year 2024.
     The 65 points scored represented the RedStorm's second-lowest total of the season. The team's overall shooting percentage of 36.5 percent was also its second-lowest figure of the season.
     Rio tied the game at 2-2 and 4-4 in the opening minutes, but never managed to enjoy a lead.
     Shawnee State extended a five-point advantage at the close of the opening quarter to 14 points, 46-32, by halftime.
     The RedStorm twice closed to within 10 in the third quarter, but got no closer the rest of the way.
     The Bears led by 19 points twice in the third quarter and increased their cushion to its largest margin of 24 points, 77-53, on a layup by Cianna Gloster with 3:49 left to play.
     Sanaya Gregory led a quartet of double-digit scorers for Shawnee State with 23 points, while Chianne Gloster and Markayla Holland netted 19 points each and Cianna Gloster finished with 10.
     Cianna Gloster also pulled down 19 rebounds to become the Bears' all-time single-season leader in the category, while recording a game-high five steals and two blocked shots.
     Shawnee State shot 44 percent overall (24-for-54), while also going 31-for-44 (70.5%) at the free throw line and outrebounding the RedStorm, 41-30.
     Rio hit 23 of its 63 shots overall, while going 3-for-15 from three-point range (20.0%), 16-for-21 at the foul line (76.2%) and committing 22 turnovers.
     Junior Lexi Woods (Waverly, OH) had 12 points to lead a trio of double-digit scorers for the RedStorm, while senior Reagan Willingham (Ashville, OH) and junior Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg, OH) finished with 11 points each.
     Junior Marina Garcia Perez (Leon, Spain) pulled down a team-high eight rebounds for Rio Grande, while junior Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH) handed out six assists.
     Rio Grande will return to action on Wednesday night in the quarterfinal round of the RSC Tournament.
     The top-seeded RedStorm will host the survivor of Monday night's first round game between No. 9 Alice Lloyd College and No. 8 Midway University for a 7 p.m. tipoff at the Newt Oliver Arena.