RedStorm Indiana bound, to face Stillman in NAIA opener

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande will square off with Stillman (Ala.) College in the opening round of the NAIA Women's Basketball Championship presented by Ballogy on Friday, March 14, at the University of Saint Francis' Hutzell Athletic Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
     The 64-team field and tournament bracket was released by the NAIA national office on Thursday night.
     The RedStorm is the No. 6 seed in the Liston Quadrant and will be facing the 11th-seeded Lady Tigers for the first time in school history.
     Third-seeded USF and No. 14 seed Indiana Tech complete the quartet of schools beginning their tourney run in Fort Wayne.
     The host Cougars and Indiana Tech will battle in Friday's 2 p.m. opener, with the Rio-Stillman matchup slated to tipoff at 4 p.m. Friday's winners will meet for the pod championship on Saturday, March 15, at 2 p.m., with that winner advancing to the Round of 16 beginning March 20 at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
     Rio Grande, which was ranked No. 19 in the final regular season NAIA coaches' poll, earned its trip to the national tournament as the River States Conference Tournament champion. Head coach David Smalley's squad defeated RSC regular season champion and rival Shawnee State University, 60-51, on Tuesday night, avenging a pair of regular season losses to the Bears and improving to 26-5 for the season with a sixth straight victory.
     The RedStorm is led by three-time First Team All-RSC selection Kaylee Darnell. The Wheelersburg, Ohio senior averages a team-high 23.2 points per game - a figure which ranks third nationally - and is shooting just under 49 percent from the field. She also surpassed the 2,000-point mark for her career and became Rio's all-time leader scorer during Rio's semifinal round win over Oakland City University.
     Darnell is joined by fellow first team All-RSC honoree, freshman forward Jasmine Jordan (Ashland, KY), who earned RSC Newcomer of the Year honors after averaging 18.5 points and 14.3 rebounds per game. She ranks fourth nationally in rebounding and has tallied 23 "double-double" performances this season.
     The RedStorm's starting lineup also includes second team All-RSC honoree, senior guard Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH), who averages 7.5 ppg and ranks fifth nationally at 6.5 assists per game, as well as freshman guard Payton Johnson (Peebles, OH), who averages just under nine points per game and was a third team All-RSC pick.
     Rio Grande ranks third in the nation in scoring (90.3 ppg), sixth in rebounds (45.8 rpg) and first assists (21.1 apg).
     Stillman, which captured the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Athletic Conference regular season championship, brings a 25-5 record into the national tourney. The 25 wins represent the most in a single season in program history.
     The Lady Tigers, who are under the direction of HBCUAC Coach of the Year Alico Dunk, are appearing in the NAIA Tournament for the first time since 2018.
     Jaida Minter, a 5-foot-4 junior guard, was named the HBCUAC Newcomer of the Year and to the All-HBCUAC First Team. She leads Stillman in scoring at 13.0 points a game and is shooting 42.4 percent from three-point range.
     Senior guard Jamariah Turner (5-9) earned All-HBCUAC Second Team honors and averages 11.7 points per game.
     The Tigers, who suffered a 62-50 loss to eventual champion Philander Smith University in the semifinal round of their conference tournament, average 71.2 points per game and are holding the opposition to just 57.5 points and 38.7 percent shooting per contest.
     Saint Francis, which is ranked No. 9 nationally, enters the NAIA Tournament with a record of 26-4 and is making their first tourney appearance since 2020.
     USF has made 20 NAIA Tournament appearances and is one of 11 teams in this year's field which has previously won a title before.
     The Cougars are led by 5-foot-10 freshman guard Cali Gregory, who averages 15.7 points per game while shooting 50.6% from the field overall (182-for-360) and 44.9% from three-point range (61-for-136). Both figures rank in the Top 25 nationally.
     Graduate forward/center Cassidy Crawford (6-0) averages 11.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while sophomore guard Isabella Gizzi (5-8) ranks 12th in the NAIA in three-point shooting percentage (45.2%).
     Junior guard Julia Mantyla (5-11) averages 9.7 points per game and leads the Crossroads League and is seventh in the nation with a 60.0 field goal percentage (111-for-185) and ranks third in the league with a 44.3 three-point shooting percentage (35-for-79).
     Indiana Tech, which was among the teams receiving votes in the final coaches' poll, sports a 25-5 record and the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) regular season title.
     Taylor Covington, a 5-foot-7 junior guard, leads the Warriors in scoring at 16.7 points per game, while senior forward Genevieve Decker (5-10) averages 7.3 rebounds per outing.
     USF and Indiana Tech met during the regular season, with Saint Francis winning the November matchup, 65-53.
     Rio Grande's meeting with Stillman will be the first-ever between the schools.