RedStorm eliminates IU Southeast, Smalley wins 700th

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande's performance on Wednesday night was akin to the feeling that comes with consuming a glass of Kentucky bourbon - smooth at the start, with a nice finishing kick.
     The RedStorm built a 14-point lead late in the opening half, then saw their cushion trimmed to four just under seven minutes later before roaring to life down the stretch and cruising to a 94-68 triumph over Indiana University Southeast in the quarterfinal round of the River States Conference Women's Basketball Championship at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande, the East Division No. 2 seed in the tournament, pushed its record to 24-5 with the win.
     The victory was also the 700th in the career of head coach David Smalley, who's currently in his 33rd year at the helm of the RedStorm.
     IU Southeast, the No. 3 seed from the West Division, closed its season at 14-13.
     By virtue of its win, Rio Grande advances to Saturday's semifinal round where it will face West Division No. 1 seed Oakland City University - a winner over Indiana University East in one of the other quarterfinal contests.
     The RedStorm took a 48-34 lead following a conventional three-point play by freshman Jasmine Jordan just before halftime, but the Grenadiers got the final bucket of the first half and started the second half on a 19-11 run, drawing to within 59-55 after a jumper by Linzie Wernert with 3:24 remaining in the third quarter.
     But IU Southeast managed just 13 points the rest of the way, as Rio re-established a double-digit cushion, 70-59, entering the final stanza.
     The Grenadiers scored the first points of the fourth period to close the deficit to nine, but got no closer from that point on.
     The RedStorm's largest lead came with the game's final margin of victory.
     Rio Grande shot just over 52 percent overall (35-for-67) and just under 85 percent from the foul line (22-for-26), while also outrebounding IUS, 52-23.
     Senior Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg, OH) led a quartet of double-digit scorers for the RedStorm with 23 points, while freshman Payton Johnson (Peebles, OH) had 17 points and three steals and Jordan tallied 15 points, 15 rebounds and two blocked shots.
     Junior Marlee Grinstead (Albany, OH) added 11 points and two blocks of her own in the winning effort, while seniors Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH) and Harlei Antritt (Newark, OH) had five assists and two blocks, respectively.
     IU Southeast hit 10 three-point goals, but connected on just 37.7 percent of its shots overall (23-for-61) and was 12-for-20 at the foul line (60.0%).
     Wernert had 14 points and nine rebounds to lead the Grenadiers, while Ella Brown had 10 points and Taylor Treat finished with seven assists and three steals.
     Lexi Starr and Karly Sweeney also had three steals each in the loss.
     Saturday's semifinal between Rio Grande and Oakland City is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff at the Johnson Center in Oakland City, Ind.