Wildcats upend Rio in NAIA 2nd Round

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande women's basketball team spent the better part of five months writing what they hoped would be a storybook finish to the 2025-26 season.
     But the final pages of the RedStorm's manuscript were altered to produce a conclusion that head coach David Smalley, his coaching staff and his players hadn't envisioned.
     Indiana Wesleyan University took advantage of a controversial third quarter momentum swing to take a lead it would never relinquish and held on down the stretch for an 86-80 win in the second round of the NAIA Women's Basketball Championship presented by Ballogy, Saturday night, at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Indiana Wesleyan, the No. 10 seed in the tourney's Naismith Quadrant, improved to 19-13 with the victory and will advance to the Round of 16 at the tourney's final site in Sioux City, Iowa.
     Rio Grande, which was the No. 2 seed in the quadrant and ranked No. 8 nationally, had a program record-tying 22-game win streak snapped and finished its season at 31-2.
     The RedStorm enjoyed a 37-31 halftime lead and still found themselves in front, 52-47, after a layup by senior Marlee Grinstead (Albany, OH) with 2:53 remaining in the third period.
     But then came the stretch which staggered the home team.
     The Wildcats countered with a three-pointer by Kylie Bettinger on their ensuing possession after the Grinstead layup, then came up with a steal and a layup by Emily Mattingly to tie the game at 52-all.
     Rio senior Marina Garcia Perez (Leon, Spain) was then whistled for an offensive foul before the RedStorm could inbound the basketball and, on IWU's ensuing possession, Grinstead was called for a personal foul on Mattingly's drive to the basket.
     Grinstead was then whistled for a technical foul for non-demonstratively tossing the ball to the ground by an official who was 40 feet away from where Grinstead was located on the floor - not by the official who called the personal foul.
     It was the first technical foul of Grinstead's collegiate career and the first technical foul whistled against Rio Grande this season.
     Mattingly hit both free throws that came with the personal foul and then drained both technical free throws to make it 56-52 with 2:20 remaining.
     Just under a minute late, Ellie Kelleher scored on a layup to cap an 11-0 run which gave the Wildcats a six-point advantage.
     Indiana Wesleyan eventually took a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter, although Rio Grande did battle back and twice tied the contest - at 73-73 on a layup by sophomore Josie Graves (Barboursville, WV) with 3:07 remaining and at 75-all on another layup by Graves with 2:31 left.
     Mattingly scored just 19 seconds later to give the Wildcats the lead for good.
     Grinstead hit one of two free throws with 2:00 remaining to get the RedStorm within 77-76, but they would get no closer the rest of the way,
     Mattingly scored a career-high 29 points off the bench for IWU, going 7-for-10 overall, including 2-for-4 from distance, and 13-for-18 at the free throw line. She also had a team-high six rebounds and seven assists.
     Ayla Krygier added 19 points to the winning effort, while Myla Browning netted 10 points and Hayleigh Amey also snared six rebounds,
     The Wildcats survived 24 turnovers by shooting 51.8 percent overall (29-for-56), 36.4 percent from three-point range (8-for-22) and 71.4 percent at the foul line (20-for-28).
     The guests also outrebounded Rio, 38-32.
     The RedStorm shot just over 46 percent overall (31-for-67) and just over 76 percent at the charity stripe (16-for-21), but went just 2-for-13 from beyond the three-point arc (2-for-13).
     Grinstead had a team-high 25 points to lead five Rio players in double figures, while junior Sophia Kline (Sugar Grove, OH) had 14 points to go along with a team-best six rebounds and four steals.
     Graves finished with 13 points, Garcia Perez had 12 and a game-high nine assists and freshman guard Allie Ellyson (Glenville, WV) netted 10 points.