RedStorm Women Tangle with Tigers in Tourney Opener

RIO GRANDE, Ohio – The seventh-seeded University of Rio Grande women’s basketball team will begin postseason play in the 2014 MSC Basketball Championships presented by GoJohnnyGo 5K/10K Run/Walk on Friday evening when they take on No. 2 seed Georgetown College at the Dallas Floyd Recreation Center in Lebanon, Tenn., on the campus of Cumberland University.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. EST.

Rio Grande (18-12 overall, 7-11 MSC) is coming off a 84-66 loss to Cumberland University in its regular season finale last Saturday.

The defeat, coupled with a loss by Bluefield and a Pikeville victory, locked up the tourney’s No. 7 seed for the RedStorm.

In completing the season sweep of Rio Grande, the Bulldogs were the beneficiaries of 33-point performances from seniors TaCouya Allen and Casie Cowan and shot a blistering 51 percent from the floor.

Rio turned the ball over 18 times, while Cumberland also shot 44 percent from beyond the three-point arc.

Junior guard Brianna Thomas (Maplewood, NJ) netted a team-high 16 points and recorded seven assists for the RedStorm, while freshman forward Brooke Marcum (Vinton, OH) grabbed 13 rebounds to go along with 11 points for her eighth double double of the season.

Georgetown (19-7 overall, 13-5 MSC) lost at the University of the Cumberlands, 61-60, in its regular season windup last Thursday.

Just two Tigers reached double figures in the scoring column, as Jessica Foster and Teonia McCune recorded 12 points apiece. Devanny King grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and Lizza Jonas dished out four assists.

Georgetown, which is coached by Rio alum and former assistant coach Andrea (Jones) McCloskey, is led in scoring by Andrea Howard’s 15.8 points per game, while Kourtney Tyra averages 14.4 points and 6.3 assists per outing.

Jonas (12.4) and King (11.5) round out the quartet of Tigers averaging in double figures, while King also is pulling down a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game.

The Tigers swept the season series with a 101-78 victory in the first meeting at Davis-Reid Alumni Gym in Georgetown on Jan. 4 and a 78-73 win at Newt Oliver Arena just 26 days later.

Live audio of the contest will be available at www.ihigh.com/redstorm, with pregame beginning at 6:45 p.m.

Live video of all tournament games is available at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/cu.portal#