PORTSMOUTH - Led by four players that each finished in double figures on the score sheet, Shawnee state knocked off rival Rio Grande, 76-70, inside of Waller Gymnasium Saturday afternoon. Dating back to last season, the win snaps a two-game skid against the RedStorm (15-9, 4-8 MSC). The win makes the Bears (12-11, 5-7 MSC) 47-5 all-time against Rio Grande. This includes a perfect 25-0 record against Rio Grande in games played on SSU's home court.
Diane Abbady was named the Dick Hyland Player of the Game for the Bears after she scored a team-high 19 points and pulled down 12 more rebounds for her league-leading ninth double-double of the season. Alannah Sheets also added 19 points to share the team lead with Abbady in that category. Catrice Mitchell added 16 points, while Priscila Santos finished with 13. Both Mitchell and Santos did their damage off the bench for the Bears. Rio Grande was led by 19 points from Sarah Bonar. Brianna Thomas was named the Dick Hyland Player of the Game for the RedStorm after scoring 15 points and dishing out seven assists.
After playing a fairly even opening eight minutes, Tabby McKinney hit a layup in the paint off of her own offensive rebound to put SSU up 13-12 with 11:42 to play. Sheets and Santos would each follow that up with baskets of their own to put the Bears up five. Shawnee State would reach its first 10-point lead of the contest with 8:36 on the clock after a 3-pointer from Sheets made the score 24-14.
Rio Grande was never able to cut its deficit under eight points for the remainder of the first half as the Bears took a 10-point lead into the break, 39-29.
Shawnee State would lead by as many as 13 points during the second half of play with that margin coming with 10:45 on the clock and the score 56-43 after Sheets turned a RedStorm turnover into two more points of her own. The Bears would still be leading by 10, 69-59, with 3:59 to play before Rio Grande made a late run.
Five points over the course of two straight possessions brought Rio Grande back within five points, 69-64, with 2:47 to play. Shawnee State got one of those points back at the foul line but Thomas would get her team to within four points, 70-66, with just under two minutes to go in the game with her own free throws. Abbady then traded baskets with Bonar to keep the deficit at four points with 1:02 to play.
With the ball, the Bears got two free throws from McKinney after a foul to put them back up by six. SSU followed that up with defensive stops on the next two trips down the court. With just seconds remaining on the clock, Sheets added two more free throws before Thomas answered back with two free throws of her own to make it a 76-70 final.
The Bears controlled the boards all contest long, holding a 49-36 edge in rebounding for the game. This included 21 rebounds on the offensive glass. In addition to 12 boards from Abbady, McKinney also added 10 rebounds while also coming up with three steals. Also on the defensive end, Mitchell came up with three of the team's five blocks.
Shawnee State shot 26-of-64 (40%) from the field in the game, comparable to the 25-of-61 (41%) outing from Rio Grande. The RedStorm hit three treys, while SSU had a pair of threes. The difference in the final scoring was the Bears ability to get to the free throw line where they scored 22 points, compared to just a 17-of-27 night from Rio Grande. These points at the charity stripe included an 8-of-12 night from Mitchell at the line. Sheets was also perfect in her six free throw attempts.
Women's basketball will now turn its attention to next weekend's trip to St. Catharine and No. 5 Campbellsville. Up first will be the road meeting with St. Catharine this Thursday at 6 p.m.
