RIO GRANDE, Ohio -- In front of a rowdy and raucous Newt Oliver Arena on Tuesday night the Midway women's basketball team battled top-seeded Rio Grande (Ohio) for the River States Conference Tournament Championship.

The RedStorm built a 16-point lead late in the third quarter, but Midway didn't go away as they slowly chipped away at the deficit. The Eagles cut it to as little as one with 1:29 left, but they didn't score again as the RedStorm held on for the 95-86 victory.

Following the loss, Midway – the RSC West Division Champion – slips to 25-7 overall, while Rio Grande – the tournament's top seed overall and the RSC East Division Champion – improves to 31-2 on the season with the win.

Both teams will now go on to represent the RSC at the NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship Opening Round which is set to begin on March 11 at 16 sites across the country.

The 64-team field and first-round pairings will be announced via the NAIA's PlayNAIA Facebook Page on Thursday (March 7) at 7 p.m. ET.

Following a back-and-forth opening quarter that saw five ties and two lead changes, the RedStorm slowly began to seize momentum in the second stanza where they outscored the visitors 22-15.

A trey by Kindall Talley (Frankfort, Ky.) gave Midway a brief 21-20 lead early in the second, but the RedStorm responded with a quick 9-0 run to take a 29-21 advantage. Dezeree White (Houston, Texas) cut the deficit to three following a personal 5-0 run, but the Eagles then went cold to end the quarter.

A triple by Jalyn Jackson (Cold Spring, Ky.) with 4:35 left proved to be the final field goal of the half for the Eagles. In fact, a three minute and 21 second scoring drought to close the quarter would give the RedStorm a 40-33 at halftime.

It looked as though Rio Grande was poised to blow the game wide open when they pushed it to a 64-48 advantage – their largest of the game – with 3:45 left in the third frame. Midway, however, wouldn't go away as they slowly chipped away at the deficit.

A pair of three-pointers by Talley and Allyson Callahan (Morehead, Ky.) in the final moments of the third gave the Eagles life and cut the deficit to nine heading into the final stanza.

The RedStorm continued to hold a 78-68 advantage with just over six minutes remaining before Midway made their move. An old fashioned three-point play by White followed by a triple by Jackson helped kickstart a 10-2 run that was capped by a pair of breakaway layups by White and Talley as Midway was within two with four minutes to play.

Rio Grande quickly stretched their lead back to 87-82 with 1:57 remaining, but Midway made one final push and cut the deficit to 87-86 following a pair of freebies by Jackson and another layup by White.

Following White's layup to get Midway within one, Rio Grande threw a long ball over the Midway defense for a layup to push it back to three. On Midway's subsequent possession they turned it over as the RedStorm closed the game on an 8-0 run en route to the 95-86 victory.

Midway was led by a terrific performance by Dezeree White. The junior from Houston, Texas scored a game-high 35 points, while she also grabbed 10 rebounds and picked up seven steals in the loss. Jalyn Jackson and Kindall Talley, meanwhile, added 17 and 15 points, respectively.

Rio Grande – who was led by a 29-points, 8-rebound effort by Hailey Jordan – finished the contest shooting 46.1 percent from the floor compared to 40.5 percent by Midway. The RedStorm dominated the rebounding battle holding a 56-37 edge including a 23-14 advantage on the offensive end. The home team also dominated second chance points with a 28-8 edge.

Chris Minner's squad will now take a couple of days off before finding out where they're headed for the NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship Opening Round which begins on March 11.

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