Darnell, Willingham lead Rio women past Siena Heights

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Less than five minutes into Tuesday night's national tournament matchup with Siena Heights University, the University of Rio Grande found itself trailing by four points and with its leading scorer and rebounder watching from the bench in foul trouble.
     But the definition of a strong team is one whose members step up when needed in key situations.
     For the RedStorm, it was Reagan Willingham and Kaylee Darnell who led the efforts in preventing the upset-minded Saints from marching on.
     Willingham kept Rio afloat in its sea of first half distress by connecting on four three-point goals and scoring all of her 14 points before the break, while Darnell scored 23 of her career-high-tying 27 points in the third quarter as the RedStorm pulled away for a 109-78 victory in the NAIA Women's Basketball Championship First Round presented by Ballogy at a jam-packed Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande, the top seed in the four-team pod and the No. 4 seed in the Duer Quadrant, won for an 11th straight time and pushed its record to 29-3.
     The victory also sends the RedStorm into Wednesday night's bracket final against Grace (Ind.) College, which eliminated the University of Pikeville in Tuesday's second game.
Siena Heights, the No. 4 seed in the bracket and the No. 13 seed in the quadrant, closed its season at 24-7.
     Ella Skeens (Chillicothe, OH), Rio Grande's senior standout and the River States Conference Player of the Year, was whistled for her second foul with 5:31 remaining in the first quarter and forced to the bench for the remainder of the half with the Saints nursing a 12-8 lead.
     Enter Willingham, a senior from Ashville, Ohio, who provided a spark off the bench by draining a pair of trifectas in each of the first two quarters and helping the RedStorm to a 49-44 cushion at the intermission.
     It was Darnell, a sophomore from Wheelersburg, Ohio, who - with the game's final outcome still far from decided at that point - who proceeded to bury the visitors from Michigan in the third stanza.
     Darnell, who was limited to a first quarter field goal and a pair of second quarter free throws in the opening half, went 10-for-11 from the field - including a three-pointer - and 2-for-2 at the foul line in the period for 23 points.
     She scored Rio's first eight points in the stanza and 23 of her team's first 27 points in the second half - Skeens had a pair of buckets to account for the other four - as the five-point halftime lead ballooned to 76-59 with 1:59 remaining in the quarter.
     Darnell who, ironically, did not score in the final period, equaled a season- and career-high of 27 points set in a win at Carlow University on Dec. 10.
     She also finished with a game-high six assists and pulled down five rebounds.
     Siena Heights got no closer than 15 points the rest of the way and Rio's largest lead of the night at 32 points, 108-76, came after a three-pointer by senior Courtney Pifher (New Washington, OH) with 58.2 seconds left in the game.
     In addition to Darnell and Willingham, the RedStorm had three other players reach double figures in the victory.
     Junior Lexi Woods (Waverly, OH) contributed 14 points to the effort, while sophomore Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH) had 12 points and junior Aleea Crites (Parkersburg, WV) had 10 points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds.
     Freshman Marlee Grinstead (Albany, OH) also had a career-high three blocked shots.
     Skeens, who eventually fouled out for the first time in her Rio career, had eight points and seven rebounds in just 16 minutes of playing time.
     Rio Grande shot 53.8 percent overall (43-for-80), 40 percent from beyond the three-point arc (6-for-15) and was 17-for-23 at the foul line (73.9%).
     The RedStorm also enjoyed a 46-33 edge in rebounding.
     Sha'Kyria Parker led Siena Heights with 23 points, while Peyton Banks finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds and Eva Alcock netted 13 points.
     Kayla Hinton handed out five assists for the Saints, who shot 43 percent overall (26-for-60) and went 22-for-30 at the foul line (73.3%).
     However, SHU connected on just four of 19 three-point tries (21.1%) and committed 19 turnovers which directly produced 32 points for the RedStorm.
     Wednesday's game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff, with the winner advancing to next week's Round of 16 in Sioux City, Iowa.