RIO GRANDE, Ohio- The IU Southeast women's basketball team withstood a furious rally to defeat the Rio Grande RedStorm 81-77 in the KIAC Quarterfinals on Wednesday night.
Annie Thomas had 24 points, 18 in the second half, nine rebounds and seven assists, Mary Dye had 20 points and 11 rebounds and Jocelyn Mousty had 13 points and eight rebounds.
The Grenadiers (15-14) used a 19-7 run to end the first quarter with a 19-15 lead. Mary Dye scored 13 of her 20 points in the first half including 10 points in the opening quarter. Dye grabbed a rebound and putback early in the second quarter to score her 1,000th point at IU Southeast. She is the 25th player in school history to score 1,000 points.
IU Southeast forced 12 RedStorm turnovers in the first half which led to 14 points. IU Southeast led 38-31 at halftime.
Rio Grande cut the lead to 44-39 in the third quarter, but Thomas knocked down a three. The Grenadiers led 60-51 at the end of three after Thomas grabbed a rebound and took it all the way to score at the buzzer.
IU Southeast committed 12 turnovers in the second half and the RedStorm scored 16 points off of the miscues.
Rio Grande cut the lead to 73-69 with 2:50 to play but the Grenadiers were able to hit their free throws and get a couple of defensive stops down the stretch.
The Grenadiers were able to get to the line and hit three free throws down the stretch which was the difference in the game. They went 17-of-21 (81 percent) from the free throw stripe in the contest and 14-of-16 in the second half. Thomas hit the final six attempts for the Grenadiers on the evening.
IU Southeast will travel to face No. 1 seed Asbury at 2 p.m. Saturday in the KIAC Semifinals.
