Rio women overwhelm Red Wolves

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - With its leading scorer reduced to the role of spectator due to injury, Indiana University East already found itself facing an arduous task.
     For its part, the University of Rio Grande had no plans on allowing the visiting Red Wolves to entertain any thought of shocking the world.
     The No. 8-ranked RedStorm started with a game-opening 13-point blitz and steamrolled their way to a 105-60 victory, Tuesday night, in River States Conference women's basketball action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande improved to 18-1 overall and 7-0 in the RSC with a ninth consecutive victory.
     IU East, which was playing a third straight outing without the services of junior guard Taylor Farris and her 20.1 points per game average due to a bum foot/ankle, slipped to 8-10 overall and 4-3 against league foes with the loss.
     The Red Wolves had nearly as many turnovers (8) than they had field goal attempts (9) in the opening quarter as Rio Grande jumped to a 13-0 lead out of the gate and a 27-7 advantage by the close of the period.
     The RedStorm's cushion never dipped below 18 points the rest of the way and grew to 27 by halftime, to 48 points at the close of the third period and to as many as 50 points on three occasions in the final stanza.
     Rio Grande shot just under 49 percent for the game overall (41-for-84) and connected on a season-high 11 three-point goals.
     The RedStorm also overwhelmed the Red Wolves with a 55-23 edge in rebounding, while turning 25 IUE turnovers into 27 points.
     Junior Sophia Kline (Sugar Grove, OH) led five double-digit scorers for Rio Grande with 18 points. She also had nine rebounds and three blocked shots.
     Sophomore Payton Johnson (Peebles, OH) added 15 points and two blocked shots to the winning effort, while freshman Kate Ball (Kenova, WV) hit four three-point goals en route to tying a career-high with 15 points of her own.
     Senior Marlee Grinstead (Albany, OH) tallied 14 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots for Rio, while fellow senior Marina Garcia Perez (Leon, Spain) had 12 points, 12 assists, eight rebounds and six steals.
     Peyton Wells scored a game-high 25 points for IU East, while also tallying a game-high eight rebounds, five steals, two blocked shots and two assists.
     Maggie Anderson added 13 points for the Red Wolves, who shot 43 percent overall (25-for-58).
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action, weather permitting, on Saturday afternoon at Indiana University Columbus.
     Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.