Rio women clobber Cougars, capture RSC crown

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - It was well-documented that, heading into Saturday afternoon's home tilt with Indiana University Kokomo, the University of Rio Grande could wrap up the River States Conference women's basketball regular season championship - a the automatic berth to the NAIA National Championship that came with it - with a win.
     Head coach David Smalley's squad dispensed with any potential drama regarding the game's final outcome from the very beginning.
     The RedStorm twice led by as many as 23 points in the first quarter and finished with 33 points in the opening stanza en route to a 96-53 rout of the Cougars at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande, ranked No. 8 in the latest NAIA Top 25 coaches' poll, ran its overall mark to 25-1 and its league tally to 14-0 with a 16th consecutive win.
     IU Kokomo slipped to 11-12 overall and 7-7 in the RSC as a result of the loss.
     The Cougars found themselves staring at a substantial deficit early on, trailing 20-4 inside the first seven minutes of the contest and 33-11 at the close of the opening stanza.
     The deficit grew to 30 points by the halftime intermission and to 42 at the close of the third period before reaching its apex of 44 points, 81-37, following a steal and subsequent layup by sophomore Payton Johnson (Peebles, OH) with 9:45 left to play and again at 89-45 after a three-point goal by freshman Alyssa Baker (Marietta, OH) with 4:55 remaining.
     IU Kokomo got no closer than 38 points at any stage of the final period.
     All 13 players in uniform for Rio Grande saw action and 10 managed to score.
     Senior Marlee Grinstead (Albany, OH), who was honored prior to the game with a ball commemorating her 1,000th career point, which came two nights earlier in a win at Midway, led the winning effort with 21 points.
     Sophomore Josie Graves (Barboursville, WV) added 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench, while freshman Allie Ellyson (Glenville, WV) had 12 points and junior Sophia Kline (Sugar Grove, WV) had 13 rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocked shots.
     Johnson also had four assists for Rio, which turned 22 Kokomo turnovers into 27 points.
     The RedStorm shot just over 50 percent overall (39-for-77) and enjoyed a 49-31 edge in rebounding.
     IU Kokomo shot just 33 percent overall (20-for-60) and a little more than 29 percent from three-point range (29.4%).
     Millie Scoresone and Moriah Crawford had 13 and 12 points, respectively, to lead the Cougars. Crawford also had seven rebounds, three assists and three steals in the loss.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Tuesday night with its final road contest o the regular season at Indiana University East.
     Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at the Student Activities and Events Center in Richmond, Ind.