Rio women rally past Grenadiers

Rio Grande Sports Information
     NEW ALBANY, Ind. - Allie Ellyson scored a career-high 21 points to lead five double-digit scorers for the University of Rio Grande in a come-from-behind 90-79 win over Indiana University Southeast, Saturday afternoon, in River States Conference women's basketball play at the IUS Student Activities Building.
     The RedStorm, ranked No. 8 in the latest NAIA Top 25 coaches' poll, moved to 15-1 overall and 4-0 in the RSC with a sixth straight win.
     IU Southeast dropped to 7-9 overall and 3-1 in league play as a result of the loss.
     Ellyson, a freshman from Glenville, W.Va., scored 13 of her points in the second half and finished 7-for-11 from the floor and 6-for-6 at the foul line. All six of her free throws came after halftime.
     Junior Sophia Kline (Sugar Grove, OH) also hit a new career-high with 20 points, while seniors Marina Garcia Perez (Leon, Spain) and Marlee Grinstead (Albany, OH) had 16 and 15 points, respectively.
     Garcia Perez also had five assists, while Grinstead had six rebounds, four assists and a trio of steals.
     Sophomore Josie Graves (Barboursville, WV) was big off the bench for Rio, which shot 53.7 percent overall (36-for-67) and 83 percent at the foul line (15-for-18) with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
     IU Southeast turned a six-point deficit at the close of the opening quarter into a 36-32 halftime lead and still found themselves locked in a 56-all deadlock after a layup by Jesse Ledgerwood with 1:01 left in the third quarter.
     But Rio Grande grabbed the lead for good when Garcia Perez scored on a layup with 14 seconds left in the period.
     The bucket by Garcia Perez kickstarted a 15-4 run which culminated in a layup by Ellyson, giving the RedStorm a 71-60 advantage with 6:53 remaining.
     Rio enjoyed a lead between eight and 13 points the rest of the way.
     Ledgerwood led the Grenadiers with a game-high 27 points, while Linzie Wernert had 21 points and a game-best 13 rebounds.
     Jerico Hopper had 10 points and Taylor Treat handed out seven assists in a losing cause for IUS.
     The hosts shot 48.4 percent overall (31-for-64) and hit nine three-pointers, but were outrebounded 38-29.
     Rio Grande is slated to return to action on Tuesday night against West Virginia University-Tech at the Raleigh County Armory and Convention Center in Beckley, W.Va.
     Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.