No. 8 Campbellsville too much for RedStorm women

RIO GRANDE, Ohio – A typical college basketball game consists of two halves and the University of Rio Grande women’s basketball team failed to put two great halves together on Saturday afternoon, as they fell to No. 8 Campbellsville University 80-64 at Newt Oliver Arena.

The RedStorm fell to 14-5 overall and 3-4 in Mid-South Conference play. Rio Grande also remained winless in four outings against ranked opponents this season.

The 64 points scored by Rio Grande was a season-low, surpassing the previous low of 72 points scored in a loss to West Virginia State on November 19.

A bucket by freshman forward Alexis Payne (Deep Water, WV) with 11 minutes left in the first half gave Rio Grande an 18-14 lead, but it also marked the final time in the contest that the RedStorm would hold the advantage.

The Tigers embarked on a 20-6 run to take a 34-24 lead with just over four minutes remaining in the half.

Rio Grande didn’t fold, however, and scored nine of the next 11 points to cut the deficit to just three, 36-33, at halftime.

The second half belonged to the Tigers, though, as they jumped out to a 61-48 lead midway through the stanza and never looked back en route to the 16-point win.

Rio Grande shot just 26 percent from the field in the second half and finished the game at 35 percent from the field overall(18-for-51), 17 percent from beyond the arc (2-for-12) and 81 percent from the foul line (26-for-32).

Campbellsville finished the game at 43 percent from the field (25-for-58), 32 percent from beyond the three-point arc (6-for-19) and 73 percent from the charity stripe (24-for-33).

The RedStorm did own a slight 37-36 advantage in rebounds over the Tigers, but were one turnover shy of a season-high with 22 turnovers for the game.

Junior guard Brianna Thomas (Maplewood, NJ) enjoyed a team-high 22 points to go along with her six rebounds, five steals, and four assists, while sophomore forward Sarah Bonar (Hartford, OH) finished with 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Payne rounded out the double-digit scorers for Rio Grande with 11 points and six rebounds.

Leading the way for the Tigers (16-2 overall, 7-1 MSC) was Katie Allen with 16 points, including four three-pointers, while Daizah Kimberland and Hayley Hellyer finished with 15 and 13 points, respectively.

LeeAnn Grider pulled down a team-high six boards for the Tigers and Ellen Sholtes dished out three assists to lead the squad.

Rio Grande returns to action next Thursday when they hit the road to face conference foe Pikeville. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at the East Kentucky Expo Center.

Live audio of the game will be available at www.ihigh.com/redstorm with pregame beginning at 5:45 p.m.