Alice Lloyd Lady Eagles Battle #12 Rio Grande University

Pippa Passes, KY: The Alice Lloyd College Lady Eagles battled hard, but the second quarter proved decisive as they fell to a talented Rio Grande University Lady Red Storm team, 84-66. The River States Conference matchup was played Tuesday, December 13th.

In the opening period, the Lady Eagles played well, sparked by seven points and six rebounds from senior center Bailee Brainard and a stingy defense that limited the Red Storm to 4-16 shooting. Due to this impressive play, ALC would lead 16-11 after ten minutes of action.

In the second quarter, Alice Lloyd continued their good play. When freshman guard Shelby Stewart drained a deep three-pointer at 6:37, the hosts still led 26-22 and looked to be in good shape. Unfortunately, at that point, everything changed in favor of the NAIA's 12th-ranked club.

Behind the play of leading scorer Ella Skeens, Rio would close the period by unleashing a devastating 21-2 blitzkrieg on their way to a 32-point quarter. By the time the buzzer finally sounded for intermission, the Lady Eagles would trail 43-28.

 As the third period began, the Bluegrass ladies would try their best to slow down the Ohio squad with their defense, and Brainard would lead the way on offense. Although the Caney Creek squad took the segment 19-16, they still trailed 59-47 entering the last quarter.

In the final ten minutes, the hometown crew would get within five (61-56) at 7:26 on a driving layup from senior guard Hannah Kash. However, RGU would roll off a 13-3 run and put the contest on ice.

For the Lady Eagles (9-2; 4-1 RSC), Brainard led the way with a nice 20-point, 12-rebound double-double. Kash finished right behind with 19 points and added six rebounds, six assists, and four steals. Sophomore forward McKayla May chipped in with 10 points and seven boards.

The Caney Club finished shooting 39.7% (25-63) from the field and 18.8% (3-16) from long range. They connected on 72.2% from the charity line (13-18), while adding 40 rebounds, 17 assists, and 6 steals.

Rio (11-1; 6-0 RSC) was paced by Skeens with 21 points. Her squad finished shooting 40.8% (31-76) from the field and 23.1% (3-13) from behind the arc. From the foul line, they finished 76% (19-25). They also finished with 47 rebounds, 22 assists, and ten steals.

The Lady Eagles return to action this week when they travel to Welch University for a non-conference match-up on Friday, December 16th, at 6:00 pm.