RedStorm survives roller-coaster ride, nips Midway

Rio Grande Sports Information
     MIDWAY, Ky. - Anyone who thought that Tuesday night's River States Conference women's basketball showdown between the University of Rio Grande and Midway University would be hard-pressed to match the excitement and drama from the two meetings between the programs last season was sorely mistaken.
     In fact, not surprisingly, it took until the game's final possession to decide a winner.
     The host Eagles blew a 10-point first quarter lead and the visiting RedStorm coughed up a 21-point third quarter advantage before regaining an edge in the closing seconds and hanging on for an 81-79 victory at Marshall Gymnasium.
     Rio Grande, ranked No. 12 in the most recent NAIA coaches' Top 25 poll, improved to 16-2 overall and 8-0 inside the RSC with the win - its fourth straight against Midway dating back to the 2018-19 campaign.
     Those four games, including last season's RSC Tournament championship game, have been decided by just 27 combined points.
     The Eagles, who had won nine of their previous 10 outings and were among the other schools receiving votes in the latest coaches' poll, fell to 11-7 overall and 6-2 in league play with the loss.
     Rio Grande grabbed a 3-0 lead just 35 seconds into the contest, but watched as Midway went on a 13-0 run over the next 3-1/2 minutes to take double-digit advantage.
     The RedStorm weathered the early adversity, though, and rebounded to regain a 19-18 cushion at the close of the period.
     The Eagles took the lead back on a three-pointer by Amoni White to open the second quarter scoring, but managed just eight points for the remainder of the half as Rio built a 45-29 advantage at the break.
     The RedStorm cushion expanded to 21 points, 53-32, following a bucket by sophomore Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH) with 8:18 left in the third quarter, but Midway responded by beginning a methodical slash into the deficit on its ensuing possession.
     The Eagles closed the gap to eight points on two occasions inside the final two minutes of the third quarter before staring at a 10-point deficit, 66-56, heading to the final period.
     The rally continued into the final stanza and Midway finally forged a 77-all tie following a layup by Samaj Adams with 1:26 left to play.
     Rio Grande regained the lead just seven seconds later when junior Lexi Woods (Waverly, OH) connected on a pair of free throws to hit the 1,000-point mark for her career, but Adams countered with another layup with 1:03 left to knot the score at 79-apiece.
     The Eagles had a chance to take the lead after Rio committed the last of its 26 turnovers with 45 seconds remaining, but committed a miscue of their own with 27.7 seconds left to give the ball back to the RedStorm.
     Senior Ella Skeens (Chillicothe, OH), the reigning RSC Player of the Week, was fouled on a drive to the basket with 9.9 seconds remaining and drained both of her subsequent free throws to put the RedStorm in front, 81-79.
     Midway immediately called timeout to advance the ball into the frontcourt and set up a possible game-tying or game-winning shot, but Dezeree White misfired on a jumper with five seconds left and, after snaring her own rebound, was off the mark again on a put-back attempt with three seconds remaining allowing Rio to escape with the victory.
     Sophomore Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg, OH) had 22 points and six rebounds to lead the winning effort, while Skeens finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds and junior Lavender Ward (Charleston, WV) had six steals.
     Rio Grande survived its sloppy ball-handling by finishing 29-for-56 from the floor overall (51.8%) and outrebounding its host, 43-37.
     Midway shot just 36 percent overall (27-for-75), but kept itself in the contest by going 20-for-24 at the foul line (83.3%) and committing just 14 turnovers of their own.
     White had 30 points to lead all scorers, including 21 in the second half comeback effort, while also pulling down seven rebounds in a losing cause.
     Jalyn Jackson added 14 points and eight assists for the Eagles, while Adams tallied 10 points, eight rebounds, seven steals and a pair of blocked shots.
     Sereniti Webb also had eight points and eight rebounds for Midway in the loss.
     Rio Grande is set to return to action on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Indiana University Southeast at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.