RedStorm women rout Lindsey Wilson

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - After suffering its first loss of the season to St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in Friday's opening round of the Bevo Francis Classic, Lindsey Wilson College was eyeing a bounce-back win over host University of Rio Grande in Saturday's final round.
     However, the 10th-ranked RedStorm snuffed out those aspirations early on en route to a lopsided victory.
     Rio Grande closed the first quarter on a 14-3 run and never let up from that point on, cruising to a 90-66 rout of the Blue Raiders at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     The RedStorm improved to 6-0 with the win.
     Lindsey Wilson closed the weekend at 6-2 as a result of the loss.
     The Blue Raiders trailed just 11-10 after a pair of free throws by Claire Fleming with 4:21 left in the first quarter, but Rio Grande responded with 14 of the final 17 points in the period and never looked back.
     The RedStorm built a 19-point advantage, 39-20, after a pair of free throws by senior Marina Garcia Perez (Leon, Spain) with 4:00 remaining in the first half, although Lindsey Wilson twice shaved the deficit to 12 points in the final 31 seconds, including 44-32 at the intermission.
     The Blue Raiders got no closer the rest of the way, though, in a game where the two teams were whistled for a combined 50 fouls and shooting 54 free throws.
     Rio Grande - which was playing without the services of its second-leading scorer, senior Lexi Woods (Waverly, OH), who was sidelined by ankle injury suffered in Friday's win over Governors State - stretched the lead to 21 points by the close of the third period and to as many as 26 points with just over 2-1/2 minutes left before settling on the 24-point final margin of victory.
     Rio Grande overcame 21 turnovers by shooting 52.7 percent overall (29-for-55), 66.7 percent from distance (8-for-12) and 82.8 percent at the foul line (24-for-29).
     The RedStorm also outrebounded the Blue Raiders, 42-30.
     Senior guard Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg, OH) led a quartet of double-digit scorers for Rio with 26 points, 12 of which came on 4-for-4 shooting from three-point range.
     Freshman Payton Johnson (Peebles, OH) netted a career-high 15 points and had two steals off the bench, while fellow frosh Jasmine Jordan (Ashland, KY) finished with 14 points to go along with a game- and career-high 16 rebounds.
     Senior guard Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH) also had 12 points and handed out a game-best eight assists in the winning effort.
     Lindsey Wilson shot just under 39 percent overall (24-for-62) and 52 percent from the foul line (13-for-25), while committing 19 turnovers of its own.
     Taylor Guess led four players in double figures for the Blue Raiders with 19 points, all of which came in the second half.
     Fleming and Saniyah Shelton finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively, in a losing cause. Both had four assists and four steals.
     Emily Cox also had 10 points, four assists and two blocked shots for LWC, while Jarie Thomas had five rebounds and two blocks of her own.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Tuesday evening when it travels to Marion, Indiana for a showdown with No. 2-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University.
     Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.