Rio women drop Red Wolves in regular season finale

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Perhaps it was the lingering emotion from an elongated pregame Senior Day ceremony celebrating the most successful class in program history.
     Or maybe it was the red hot shooting touch from beyond the three-point arc that Indiana University East enjoyed for what seemed to be most of the day.
     Maybe it was a mixture of both.
     Regardless, it took a while for the University of Rio Grande to get rolling in Saturday afternoon's regular season finale.
     Once that happened, though, it was business as usual for the RedStorm.
     Head coach David Smalley's team rallied from a 10-point second quarter deficit, shooting just under 66 percent from the floor over the final two periods, for a 96-86 triumph over the Red Wolves in River States Conference women's basketball action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande, ranked No. 15 in the latest NAIA Top 25 coaches' poll, improved to 23-5 overall and 13-3 against conference foes with the win.
     IU East dropped to 12-16 overall and 8-8 in the RSC with the loss.
     The Red Wolves connected on seven of their first nine three-point attempts and built a double-digit lead, 36-26, after a conventional three-point play by Sally Mortenson with 6:21 left in the first half.
     The advantage, which was trimmed to five points by halftime, went back to eight points in the opening moments of the third stanza and remained at eight, 54-46, following a bucket by Peyton Wells with 7:12 remaining in the period.
     Around that time, though, Rio Grande started to put things together.
     The RedStorm reeled off eight straight points to tie the game at 54-all and then tied things again at 57-57 before moving in front, 59-57, after a layup by senior Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg, OH) with 4:49 left in the quarter.
     The Red Wolves regained the lead twice more over the next 2-1/2 minutes before Rio finally took the lead for good, 66-64, thanks to a conventional three-point play by freshman Jasmine Jordan (Ashland, KY) with 2:14 to play in the third.
     IU East found itself down one point entering the final stanza, but got not closer than that over the game's final 10 minutes.
     Rio Grande's largest lead of the afternoon came with the final margin of victory.
     The RedStorm connected on 21 of its 32 second half field goal attempts (65.6%) and limited itself to just six turnovers - three in each quarter - after 11 first half miscues.
     As is usually the case, Jordan and Darnell were Rio's offensive hammers.
     Jordan finished with a game-high 30 points, 19 rebounds and three blocked shots. She scored all but four of her points in the second half, going 11-for-12 from the floor during the stretch.
     Darnell continued her assault on the program's all-time scoring mark with 25 points, 15 of which came in the first half. She currently stands at 2,235 career points, 53 shy of current leader Stacy Riley's mark of 2,288 points.
     Senior Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH) added 19 points - one shy of her career-high - to go along with a game-best six assists and team-best two steals in the winning effort.
     As a team, Rio finished 36-for-73 overall (49.3%) and 22-for-25 at the foul line (88.0%), while enjoying a whopping 49-21 edge in rebounding.
     IU East also shot 49.3 percent overall (33-for-67), including a 13-for-28 showing from three-point range (46.4%).
     Taylor Farris led a quartet of double-digit scorers for the Red Wolves with 24 points, 15 of which came on five three-point goals. She also handed out five assists and blocked one shot.
     Mortenson and Wells netted 16 points each and Trinity Archey had 11 points off the bench.
     Wells and Rilee Terry shared team honors with four rebounds each, while Mortenson had four steals and Gracie Kramer equaled Farris with five assists.
     Both teams will be part of the RSC Women's Basketball Championship, which begins with quarterfinal round action on Wednesday night at higher seeded campus sites.
     Rio Grande, the No. 2 seed from the RSC East, will host RSC West No. 3 Indiana University Southeast in a 7 p.m. tipoff. The RedStorm won its earlier meeting with the Grenadiers, 85-67, on Jan. 23 in Rio Grande.
     IU East, the No. 4 seed from the East Division, will travel to West Division No. 1 Oakland City University.