The University of Rio Grande women’s basketball team started slow but, in the end, head coach David Smalley’s squad got its “one for the thumb”.
The RedStorm captured their fifth consecutive River States Conference tournament championship with an 83-66 triumph over Brescia University, Tuesday night, at the Newt Oliver Arena.
Rio Grande, the tourney’s overall top seed as the regular season and East Division champion, won for a 21st straight time and pushed its season record to 30-1.
Brescia, the West Division No. 1 seed, dropped to 24-7 with the loss. Only two of the seven losses were by more than eight points – both to the RedStorm.
Rio Grande also scored 83 points in both meetings against a Brescia defense which allowed its opponents just 59 points per contest.
The Bearcats took advantage advantage of Rio’s uncharacteristically cold shooting touch early on – the RedStorm hit just three of their first 18 shots overall – and grabbed a 16-9 lead following a layup by Hailee Johnson with 2:30 left in the opening stanza.
But as cold as the home team was in the game’s first 10 minutes, they were almost the opposite in the second period.
Rio shot 61 percent in the second quarter (11-for-18) and used a 15-3 run to turn a 23-22 deficit into an 11-point advantage, 37-26, after a layup by junior Sophia Kline (Sugar Grove, OH) with 1:01 left before halftime.
The RedStorm continued to pull away, twice stretching its cushion to 14 points in the third quarter before finishing with a 17-point final margin of victory.
Brescia shot just under 53 percent (27-for-51) to Rio’s 40.8 percent (31-for-76) and enjoyed a 38-35 edge in rebounding, but the Bearcats’ inability to hang on to the basketball proved to be the biggest factor in the game’s final outcome.
Brescia, which averaged just under 17-1/2 turnovers per outing, had 16 more miscues than the RedStorm, 24-8, producing a 30-2 Rio advantage in points off of turnovers.
Senior Marlee Grinstead (Albany, OH) led five double-digit scorers for Rio with 26 points. The league’s Player of the Year also had three blocked shots.
Kline had 15 points and tied a career-high with 18 rebounds, while freshman Allie Ellyson (Glenville, WV) also netted 15 points in the winning effort.
Senior Marina Garcia Perez (Leon, Spain) had 13 points to go along with a game-high eight assists and three steals, while sophomore Josie Graves (Barboursville, WV) added 12 points off the bench.
Johnson led Brescia with 19 points and seven rebounds in a reserve role, while Brooklyn Stewart had 13 points and a game-high five blocked shots.
Jenna Krampe had six rebounds and three assists in a losing cause, while Cassidy Morris also had six rebounds and the duo of Kassady London and Shelbie Beatty tied Krampe with three assists each.
Rio Grande and Brescia both will advance to the NAIA Women’s Basketball Championship First & Second Round, which gets underway March 13 at campus sites across the country.
Rio Grande will host one of the 16 opening round sites.
Brescia, which is making its first national tourney trip in 18 years, earned its spot as the tourney’s runner-up.
The NAIA will release the tourney field and all first round matchups on Thursday, at 8 p.m., via a video on its PlayNAIA YouTube channel.