Women's Basketball falls in First Round of NAIA Tournament to second-seeded Rio Grande

(Rio Grande, MI) - The Rochester Christian women's basketball team competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics First Round on Friday evening against second-seeded Rio Grande. The Red Storm came into the game with a 30-1 record and was the second-highest scoring offense in the NAIA. RCU entered the game with a 21-10 record. 

FIRST HALF

Rio Grande came out of the shoot with a 6-2 run before RCU started back with their own run. Jacey Somers made a layup before Ashley Loon scored the next five points, making it 9-8. A nearly two-minute scoring drought from both sides would see five points back-and-forth from both teams. Samone Andrews would aid the Warriors in a late run, scoring six of the team's final 11 points in the period. 

The Red Storm moved out to an 11-4 run over the first four minutes of the second period, with Samone Andrews going 4-4 from the free throw line. RCU would slowly start to climb back into the game with Shahd Bakkar hitting a layup and Jacey Somers hitting a three-pointer, as RCU made it a two-point game at the half. 

SECOND HALF

An 8-4 Red Storm run saw Kendal Zeiter and Samone Andrews hit layups. The two teams would start battling back and forth, with RCU keeping pace with the fast-paced RGU offense. Timbre Williams got into the scoring column with a couple of free throws to close out the scoring for RCU in the third. 

Rio Grande started to pull away in the game as Kendal Zeiter aided the Warriors offense. Jacey Somers pulled RCU to within six points with five minutes remaining, until Rio Grande responded with buckets and stops on the defensive end to move on in the playoffs. 

TOP PERFORMANCES

Samone Andrews led the scoring with 24 points in the game, tying Rio's scoring for the game high. Jacey Somers was second with 20 points. Amal Younes recorded four assists. 

Jacey Somers and Kendal Zeiter were the top rebounders on the team with five and four rebounds, respectively. Zeiter created five turnovers in the game.