Rio women rally late, shoot down Eagles

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Rare has been the occasion this season that the University of Rio Grande women's basketball team has found itself challenged by the time the fourth quarter rolls around.
Tuesday night's get together with Midway University proved to be one of those out of character situations for head coach David Smalley's club, though.
     Safe to say, the ninth-ranked RedStorm rose to the challenge.
     Rio Grande rallied from a seven-point deficit with just over a minute to play in the third period, outscoring the Eagles 29-7 over the final 7-1/2 minutes for a 97-75 victory in River States Conference action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     The RedStorm improved to 19-4 overall and 9-2 in league play with the win, shaking off the sting of a disappointing and gut-wrenching one-point loss at St. Mary-of-the-Woods (Ind.) College last Saturday in the process.
     The win also allowed Rio to remain one game behind East Division leader Shawnee State University, which thumped West Virginia University-Tech on Tuesday.
     Midway, which dropped to 1-14 all-time against Rio, slipped to 13-10 overall and 7-4 against RSC foes with the loss.
     The Eagles looked to be positioning themselves to deal the RedStorm a second straight upset loss when a pair of free throws by Jermyra Christian with 1:18 remaining in the third quarter equaled the visitors' largest lead of night at 66-59.
     And while Rio Grande started its late-game comeback with a bucket on its ensuing possession, the contest was still deadlocked at 68-all after a bucket by Midway's Kassidy Daugherty with 8:45 left to play.
     From that point on, though, the RedStorm's rally transitioned from pedal-to-the-metal to foot-through-the-floorboard.
     Rio Grande scored 29 of the final 36 points, going 9-for-12 from the floor overall (75.0%), 3-for-4 from three-point range (75.0%) and 13-for-14 at the foul line (92.9%) over the final 10 minutes.
     During the same stretch, Midway connected on just three of its 12 shots overall (25.0%) - including 0-for-3 from distance - and committed nine of its 21 turnovers.
     Senior Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg, OH) scored 15 of her game-high 33 points in the pivotal final stanza, going 3-for-4 from the floor and 6-for-6 at the foul line. All three of her field goals came from beyond the three-point arc after the RedStorm failed to connect on a single trifecta through the first three periods.
     Two of the three three-pointers came on successive possessions after Darnell had already snapped the 68-68 tie by canning a pair of free throws following a technical foul assessed to Christian with 7:33 left to play.
     The flurry of points by Darnell were part of a 12-0 run which, essentially, settled the issue once and for all.
     Midway got no closer than nine points over the final 4-1/2 minutes and Rio's largest lead of the night came with the game's final margin of victory.
     Freshman Jasmine Jordan (Ashland, KY) - who spent the entirety of the fourth quarter uprising on the bench - was one of four other Rio players to reach double figures, finishing with 14 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots for her 17th "double-double" performance of the season.
     Junior Marlee Grinstead (Albany, OH) and freshman Payton Johnson (Peebles, OH) scored 11 points each in the winning effort, while senior Lexi Woods (Waverly, OH) tossed in 10. Grinstead also had a team-best four steals and three blocked shots.
     Senior Marina Garcia Perez (Leon, Spain) also had four steals and fellow senior Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH) handed out a game-high 11 assists.
     Rio Grande shot just over 52 percent overall (34-for-65) and was 26-for-28 at the foul line (92.9%) after going 13-for-30 at the charity stripe in its one-point loss on Saturday.
     The RedStorm also enjoyed a 43-33 rebounding edge to offset 24 turnovers.
     Midway shot 41 percent overall (29-for-70) and 75 percent at the free throw line (15-for-20), but was just 2-for-17 from three-point range (11.8%) and had 21 turnovers of its own.
     Christian led the Eagles with 24 points, five steals and three assists, while A'Lyrica Hughes had 16 points and three assists of her own.
     Trinity Johnson had a team-best 11 rebounds and five steals of her own in a losing effort.
     Rio Grande continues its three-game homestand on Saturday with a showdown against RSC West Division leader Oakland City University, which is 10-1 in conference play this season.
     In addition to their regular season meetings, the two teams have met in either the semifinal or championship round of the RSC Tournament each of the past two seasons.
     Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.