Rio women survive rally, pull away from Eagles

Rio Grande Sports Information
     PIPPA PASSES, Ky. - The 18-point final margin of victory may have come as a bit of a surprise.
     The roller-coaster ride it took to reach that point shouldn't have come as a shock.
     After all, showdowns with Alice Lloyd College are never easy for the University of Rio Grande - especially those that take place on the road.
     The RedStorm overcame a first quarter deficit, then watched a 21-point second half lead whittled down to five with just under 7-1/2 minutes left before surging again down the stretch for an 84-66 win over the Eagles, Tuesday night, in River States Conference women's basketball action at the Perry Campus Center.
     Rio Grande, which was ranked No. 14 in the latest NAIA coaches' Top 25, improved to 11-1 overall and 6-0 in the RSC with a sixth straight win.
     Alice Lloyd lost for just the second time in 11 overall outings and for the first time in five conference games.
     The Eagles, who began the night sharing a piece of the RSC East Division lead, scored seven of the first eight points in the contest and enjoyed a 16-11 advantage at the close of the opening quarter.
     Rio Grande rebounded mightily in the second stanza, though, scoring 32 points - including a 15-0 run to end the period - and grabbed a 43-28 halftime lead.
     The cushion twice reached 21 points in the third quarter, the last of which was 55-34 after a pair of free throws by freshman Marlee Grinstead (Albany, OH) with 4:52 remaining, but Alice Lloyd roared to life and sliced the deficit to 12 points, 59-47, entering the final quarter.
     The Eagles' comeback effort continued into the final period and the Rio lead dwindled to just five, 61-56, after a layup by Hannah Kash with 7:26 left to play.
     However, that's as close as the hosts would get.
     The RedStorm went on a 13-3 run over the next four minutes to regain a 15-point advantage and led by no less than 12 points the rest of the way.
     Senior Ella Skeens (Chillicothe, OH) scored a game-high 21 points to go along with nine rebounds.
     Sophomore Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg, OH) added 18 points and a team-best three steals of her own to the winning effort, while junior Lexi Woods (Waverly, OH) came off the bench to score 15 points and pull down a team-high 11 rebounds.
     Sophomore Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH) handed out eight assists for Rio, which shot 64.7 percent (11-for-17) in the second quarter and 57.9 percent (11-for-19) in the fourth period after shooting just 25 percent and just under 21 percent in the first and third stanzas, respectively.
     Bailee Brainard had 20 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots in the loss for Alice Lloyd, while Kash had 19 points, six assists and four steals.
     Makayla May also had 10 points for the Eagles, who shot 39.7 percent overall (25-for-63), but went just 3-for-16 from three-point range (18.8%).
     ALC also had 21 turnovers, which led to a 28-9 Rio advantage in points off of turnovers.
     Rio Grande is slated to return to action next Monday when it faces Interamerican University as part of the Puerto Rico Christmas Classic.
     Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico.