Quick start helps Rio women past Alice Lloyd

Rio Grande Sports Information
     PIPPA PASSES, Ky. - The University of Rio Grande got off to a quick start and never looked back, posting an 81-65 win over Alice Lloyd College, Tuesday night, in River States Conference women's basketball action at the Perry Campus Center.
     The RedStorm, ranked No. 18 in the latest NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll, pushed their record to 22-4 overall and 14-0 in conference play with an 11th consecutive victory.
Alice Lloyd dropped to 10-15 overall and 5-10 in league play as a result of the loss.
     Outside of a 2-2 tie less than an a minute into the contest, Rio Grande led from start to finish.
     The RedStorm scored 12 of the game's first 14 points and hit 11 of their 17 first quarter field goal attempts en route to a 24-17 cushion at the close of the period.
     The advantage reached as many as 16 points late in the second stanza before settling at 14 points, 46-32, by halftime.
     An 11-4 run by the host Eagles to begin the second half trimmed the lead to just seven, 50-43, but Alice Lloyd got no closer the rest of the night.
     Rio Grande extended the lead back to 14 points by the close of the quarter and failed to lead by less than 10 points for the remainder of the contest.
     The RedStorm's largest lead was 19 points, 79-60, after a conventional three-point play by sophomore Marlee Grinstead (Albany, OH) with 2:04 left to play.
     Junior Kaylee Darnell (Wheelersburg, OH) led a trio of double-digit scorers for Rio Grande, following up her career-high 34-point effort in last Saturday's win over Ohio Christian, with a game-high 25 points. She also pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.
     Senior Aleea Crites (Parkersburg, WV) added 18 points and eight rebounds, while recording four of the RedStorm's six blocked shots as a team.
     Senior Reagan Willingham (Ashville, OH) had 11 points in the winning effort, while junior Azyiah Williams (Ripley, OH) contributed six assists and two steals.
     Rio Grande shot just over 49 percent overall (32-for-65), while going 15-for-19 at the free throw line (78.9%) and enjoying a 48-30 rebounding edge.
     Hannah Kash led Alice Lloyd, matching Darnell for game-best honors with 25 points. Seventeen of her points came in the second half, including nine in the Eagles' surge to open the third quarter.
     Katie Jo Moore had 13 points and three steals for ALC, while Abby Maggard added 10 points, Riley Schreck had five assists and Madison Thompson finished with seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
     The Eagles shot 36.4 percent both overall (24-for-66) and from three-point range (8-for-22).
     Rio Grande returns to action on Saturday when it hosts West Virginia University-Tech for Senior Day.
     Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at the Newt Oliver Arena.