Rio women outrun Jaguars in Bevo opener

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - In recent seasons, the University of Rio Grande women's basketball team has made its bones at home by starting fast and running the opposition out of the building.
     Friday night's matchup with fellow unbeaten Governors State University in the opening round of the Bevo Francis Classic failed to follow script, though.
     In fact, until it pulled away inside the final four minutes for an 88-71 victory, head coach David Smalley's RedStorm was, essentially, locked into a street fight with the visiting Jaguars on the Newt Oliver Arena floor.
     Rio Grande, ranked 10th nationally in the latest NAIA Top 25 coaches' poll, moved to 5-0 with the win.
     Governors State which, like Rio, was a national tournament participant last year, slipped to 4-1 as a result of the loss.
     The game's "street fight" feel was the product of a back-and-forth pace from the outset and 44 combined fouls - 24 on the Jaguars and 20 on the RedStorm - which, in turn, spawned 54 combined free throw attempts.
     Rio led just 69-63 after GSU's Zareia Chevre hit one of her two free throw tries with 4:07 left to play, but the RedStorm responded with an 11-2 run over the next 2-1/2 to build a 15-point advantage and finally settle the issue once and for all.
     Senior Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg, OH), who finished with a game-high 29 points while also snaring a game-best eight rebounds, did the bulk of her damage late with 17 fourth quarter points. All but five of her fourth quarter tallies came in the final 2:58 and she was responsible for nearly half of her team's points in late victory-clinching run.
     Fellow senior Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH) was equally big after halftime with all but two of her season-high 11 points coming after the break, including six in the final stanza. She also handed out a game- and season-high nine assists.
     While Darnell and Williams helped swing the final outcome in Rio's favor down the stretch, it was senior Lexi Woods (Waverly, OH) - with some help from freshman Jasmine Jordan (Ashland, KY) - who carried the mail for the RedStorm in the game's opening two periods.
     Woods scored all of her 16 points and Jordan had all of her nine points before the intermission, as Rio rallied from a five-point second quarter deficit for a 43-40 halftime advantage.
     Woods, who had to leave the floor for a bit late in the period due to an ankle injury, also had six rebounds and a team-best three steals in the victory.
     Jordan, who shared rebounding honors with Darnell, also had a pair of blocked shots.
     The RedStorm survived 20 turnovers by going 30-for-60 overall (50.0%), 25-for-29 at the charity stripe (86.2%) and enjoying a 44-37 edge on the rebounding glass.
     Rio also prospered with a 24-11 advantage in points off of turnovers, despite having five more miscuses than the Jaguars in the contest.
     Governors State, which hails from the Chicago suburb of University Heights, Ill., had five players finish in double figures despite going just 27-for-72 overall (37.5%), 2-for-22 from beyond the three-point arc (9.1%) and 15-for-25 at the free throw line (60.0%).
     Cencere McDaniels led the Jaguars with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Tabetha Jones had 13 points and four steals and Louisa Schmidt netted 11 points off the bench.
     Kalvina Eubanks had 10 points, sis rebounds and five steals in a losing cause, while Chevre had 10 points and Da'Naria Washington tallied six assists.
     Rio Grande will finish off the Classic on Saturday when it faces Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) College for a 5 p.m. tipoff.
     The Blue Raiders suffered their first loss of the season on Friday as well, falling to St. Mary-of-the-Woods, 67-53.
     Governors State will face the Pomeroys in Saturday's second game at 1 p.m.