Shawnee State completes season sweep of RedStorm women

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The latest chapter in the rivalry between the University of Rio Grande and Shawnee State University turned out to be something akin to a heavyweight boxing match.
     When all was said and done, it was the visiting Bears who threw the final haymaker of the day.
     And, without question, it was a devastating blow to the ninth-ranked RedStorm.
     Jariah Steele scored a career-high 21 points, including two on free throws with 1:08 left to play which gave SSU the lead for good, as the Bears upended Rio Grande, 77-73, Saturday afternoon, in River States Conference Women's Basketball Game of the Week at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Shawnee State improved to 21-4 overall and 12-1 in league play, completing a regular season sweep of the RedStorm and cementing itself at the top of the RSC East Division.
     Rio Grande dropped to 20-5 overall and 10-3 against conference foes with its second loss in its last three outings.
     The loss also denied the RedStorm a chance to forge a three-way tie with Shawnee State and Oakland City for the overall No. 1 seed in the upcoming RSC Tournament - a tie in which Rio would've held the tiebreaker.
     Now, barring major upsets over the final week of the regular season, head coach David Smalley's team appears as if it will host only one post-season game instead of having homecourt advantage throughout.
     The loss also snapped a streak of 49 consecutive wins against conference foes which dated back to a 104-87 loss against then-RSC member Asbury (Ky.) University in the first round of the Bevo Francis Classic on Nov. 19, 2020.
     Neither team led Saturday's battle by more than six points.
     Shawnee State enjoyed a 32-26 advantage after a layup by Jonilyah Chambers with 4:55 left in the first half, but Rio Grande rallied to knot the score at 34-all by the break before taking what proved to be their largest lead of the day, 47-44, after a three-pointer by senior Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg, OHJ) with 5:05 remaining in the third period.
     Nine of the game's 15 ties and nine of its 21 lead changes followed over the next 14 minutes before Steele's free throws gave the Bears a lead they would never relinquish.
     The RedStorm did manage to draw within one, 74-73, after a layup by freshman Jasmine Jordan (Ashland, Ky.) with 21.7 seconds left, but Shawnee State's Miyoshi Ellis drilled a pair of free throws less than a second later to make it 76-73 and Rio Grande turned the ball over on its ensuing possession.
     Cianna Gloster hit one of two free throws for the Bears with 12.8 seconds remaining to make it a four-point lead and a two-possession game, but the RedStorm misfired on a pair of three-point tries in the final seconds to settle the issue once and for all.
     In addition to Steele's career day, SSU got 16 points and 15 rebounds from Gloster, 12 points and five steals from Ellis and 10 points and two steals from Lauren Hawthorne.
     The Bears actually had a lower shooting percentage than Rio Grande - 40.3% to the RedStorm's 43.1% - but completed dominated the hosts on the glass, 52-37. Shawnee's rebound total included a whopping 25 offensive carems.
     Rio Grande was 17-for-29 (58.6%) from the floor in the first and third quarters combined, but went just 14-for-43 (32.6%) over the second and fourth stanzas, including just 7-for-24 (29.2%) in the final period.
     Darnell led the RedStorm with 22 points, while Jordan finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds and senior Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH) had five assists.
     Rio Grande is slated to return to the court on Saturday when it travels to the Raleigh County Convention Center in Beckley, W.Va. for a meeting with West Virginia University-Tech.
     Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m.