MIDWAY, Ky. -- After wrapping up a four-game road swing over the weekend, the Midway women's basketball team returned to Marshall Gymnasium on Tuesday night when they hosted No. 12 Rio Grande (Ohio) in a rematch of last year's River States Conference Championship.

The Eagles had built as much as a 10 point lead in the first quarter only to see the RedStorm respond and take a 21 point lead early in the third quarter. Midway rallied and would tie the game on two separate occasions in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

A pair of free throws gave Rio Grande an 81-79 lead with less than 10 seconds left. Midway had a couple of opportunities, but they came up short as the visitors escaped with the 81-79 victory.

Following the loss, Midway – who is in the 'receiving votes' portion of the NAIA Top 25 Poll – falls to 11-7 overall and 6-2 in RSC play. Rio Grande – who is ranked No. 12 in the poll – improves to 16-2 overall and 8-0 in league play with the win.

Chris Minner's squad fell behind 3-0 in the early going, but responded with a 13-0 run to take a 13-3 lead. The final six minutes of the quarter saw the Eagles go cold as Rio closed on a 16-5 run to take a 19-18 lead following 10 minutes of play.

An Amoni White (St. Louis, Mo.) triple gave Midway a brief 21-19 lead in the opening seconds of the second stanza, but the final nine plus minutes of the half saw the Blue and Gold score just eight points as Rio would take a 45-29 lead into the locker room.

The RedStorm lead ballooned to as many as 21, 53-32, early in the third, but from that point on, the Eagles slowly chipped away at the deficit. Jalyn Jackson (Cold Spring, Ky.) scored eight straight points as Midway cut the deficit to 10, 66-56, entering the final frame.

Rio Grande pushed the lead back to 12, 76-64, with just under five minutes left, but a triple by Kassidy Daugherty (Owensboro, Ky.) kickstarted an 11-0 run that got the Eagles within one with under two minutes remaining.

Less than a minute later, Semaj Adams (New Orleans, La.) tied the game at 77 with a layup, but a pair of freebies by Lexi Woods regained a 79-77 lead for the RedStorm. Adams answered once again with another layup knotting the game at 79.

Following a turnover by each team, Ella Skeens toed the charity stripe and sank a pair of free throws giving her team an 81-79 lead with 9.9 seconds remaining. After a timeout to advance the ball into the frontcourt, Midway's two chances to tie the game came up short as the RedStorm came away with the 81-79 victory.

Dezeree White (Houston, Texas) led the way with a game-high 30 points including seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Jackson added 14 points, eight assists, and five rebounds, while Adams chipped in 10 points, eight rebounds, and seven steals. Sereniti Webb (Covington, Ky.), meanwhile, recorded eight points and eight rebounds in the loss.

The Eagles forced 26 turnovers, but the RedStorm combatted those turnovers with a 51.8 percent shooting performance. Midway, meanwhile, shot just 36 percent from the floor.

Chris Minner's squad returns to action on Saturday (Jan. 14) when they travel to Circleville, Ohio to battle Ohio Christian at 1 p.m. ET.

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