Rio women pull away in second half, top Cornerstone

Rio Grande Sports Information
     UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ill. - Less than 24 hours removed from a rare offensive power outage, the University of Rio Grande women's basketball team posted much more familiar numbers in their swansong to the calendar year 2024.
     The RedStorm broke open a tightly-contested affair by piling up 58 second half points en route to a 103-89 win over Cornerstone (Mich.) University in the GSU Winter Classic, Sunday afternoon, at Governors State University's Athletic and Recreation Center.
     Rio Grande, which was ranked No. 8 in the most recent NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll, improved to 11-2 with the victory and rebounded nicely from a 53-point output - more than 36 points below its per game season average - in Saturday's loss to Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) University.
     Cornerstone, a member of NAIA's Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, saw its season mark even at 7-7 with the loss.
     Rio Grande trailed only twice in the contest - 30-28 with 7:30 left in the first half following a layup by Mackenzie Goodwin and 32-31 after a layup by Jaylee Long just 26 seconds later - but it was the strong second half showing which allowed head coach David Smalley's club to finally put the Golden Eagles away.
     The RedStorm stretched their 46-45 halftime advantage to as many as 17 points, 76-59, after a pair of free throws by freshman Payton Johnson (Peebles, OH) with 36 seconds left in the third quarter before settling on a 15-point cushion entering the final stanza.
     A three-pointer by freshman Jasmine Jordan (Ashland, KY) with 9:08 left to play gave Rio its largest lead of the day at 79-61, although Cornerstone did rally to make things interesting when a three-point goal by Jaxi Long drew the Golden Eagles within 93-86 with 2:55 remaining.
     The RedStorm withstood the comeback effort though, by scoring 10 of the game's final 13 points.
     Senior Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg, OH) led the winning effort with a season-high 30 points, going 13-for-18 from the floor. She also pulled down eight rebounds.
     Jordan, who went scoreless in Saturday's loss, came off the bench for the first time as a collegian and finished with 25 points an 10 rebounds.
     Johnson added 12 points and a pair of steals off the bench, while senior Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH) tied a career-high by handing out 15 assists.
     Rio Grande finished 39-for-71 overall (54.9%) and 20-for-23 at the free throw line (87.0%), while committing a season-low eight turnovers and enjoying a 44-32 edge in rebounding.
     Cornerstone shot just under 49 percent overall (37-for-76) and finished 10-for-12 (83.3%) at the charity stripe.
     Jaxi Long led the Golden Eagles with 26 points, while Goodwin finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists and a pair of blocked shots.
     Emma Costen added 11 points in the losing effort, while Laura Innerebner had 10 points and two blocks of her own, Jaylee Long was credited with eight assists and Stephanie Ainsworth also blocked to shots.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action next Saturday when it rings in the new year against rival Shawnee State University in River States Conference play.
     Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. at Waller Gymnasium in Portsmouth.