Rio Grande women set to host Patriots
RIO GRANDE, Ohio – The University of Rio Grande women’s basketball team continues its homestand on Thursday night when they entertain the Patriots of St. Catharine College in a Mid-South Conference matchup.
Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
In its most recent outing, Rio Grande (13-4 overall, 2-3 MSC) snapped a two-game losing streak with a thrilling 112-108 overtime victory over arch-rival Shawnee State Saturday afternoon at the Newt Oliver Arena.
The victory marked back-to-back wins for the RedStorm in the series against Shawnee State – the first time that happened in the 47 games played between the two programs.
Rio Grande erased a four-point deficit with 32 seconds left in regulation by knocking down four consecutive free throws thanks to the combination of a blocking foul whistled against Shawnee State and a technical foul called on Shawnee State for fan interference.
The overtime session belonged to Rio Grande, as freshman forward Alexis Payne (Deep Water, WV) and freshman forward Brooke Marcum (Vinton, OH) combined for 12 points in the extra period.
Junior guard Brianna Thomas (Maplewood, NJ) recorded just the second triple double in the program’s history with 29 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds, while Marcum had a career night with 23 points and 18 rebounds.
Thomas’ effort resulted in both MSC Player of the Week and NAIA Division I Player of the Week honors.
Payne, freshman guard Sharday Baines (East Cleveland, OH) and sophomore forward Harley Adler (Burton, OH) each reached double figures with 15, 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Thomas continues to lead the RedStorm with 19.8 points and 5.5 assists per contest, while Marcum is pulling down 9.2 rebounds per game.
St. Catharine (3-9, 1-5) dropped a 72-63 decision to Georgetown at home last Saturday.
Heather Sandlin led the charge for the Patriots with 16 points, while Rianne Hofstraat and Brooke Gee had 14 and 12 points, respectively.
Machera Calhoun is leading the Patriots at 13.7 points per game, while Sandlin and Gee lead the team with 5.6 assists and 7.6 rebounds, respectively.
Live video and play-by-play of the game will be available at www.ihigh.com/redstorm with pregame beginning at 5:45 p.m.
