RIO GRANDE, Ky. -- For the second time in as many seasons, the Midway women's basketball team headed to the 'Buckeye State' on Tuesday (Feb. 28) to battle Rio Grande (Ohio) for the River States Conference Tournament Championship inside the Newt Oliver Arena.

The Eagles – who trailed by as many as 13 in the first half – cut the deficit to five at halftime before tying the game at 55 with under a minute to go in the third. Unfortunately for Midway, the RedStorm answered with a 22-2 run as they would cruise to the 93-72 victory.

With the loss, Chris Minner's squad claims a runner-up finish in the RSC Tournament for the second straight season. It also snaps Midway's 12 game winning streak as the fall to 23-8. Rio Grande – who is ranked No. 12 in the NAIA Top 25 Poll – improve to 28-3 with the win.

Despite Tuesday's result, the Blue and Gold are still headed to the NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship Opening Round for the second straight season. They'll find out their destination on Thursday when the NAIA releases opening round pairings.

It was a tough opening stanza for the Eagles as they shot just 19 percent facing a 19-9 deficit heading into the second stanza. The lead ballooned to 13, 33-20, with 4:05 left in the first half, but Midway rallied late in the second to cut the deficit to five at intermission.

Dezeree White (Houston, Texas) – who scored eight points in the final four plus minutes – sparked a 10-2 run to close the half that saw Midway cut the deficit to 35-30 heading into the locker room.

Midway forced the RedStorm into 16 first half turnovers, but they didn't help their cause after hitting just 3-of-12 from the charity stripe.

The third quarter saw the duo of Jalyn Jackson (Cold Spring, Ky.) and Dezeree White take over as they combined to score 22 of Midway's 25 points in the quarter.

Facing a 45-35 deficit at the 6:39 mark, the Eagles slowly chipped away before tying the game late in the quarter. Jackson – who scored 13 points in the quarter – hit a pair of 3-pointers before scoring eight straight points and tying the game at 55 with 54.1 seconds left in the third.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, the RedStorm kickstarted their game-changing rally after scoring the final four points of the third. The 22-2 run – which including 16 straight points – pushed the lead to 77-55 after Ella Skeens, the RSC Player of the Year, hit three consecutive triples less than three minutes into the fourth.

The home squad would lead by as many as 23 down the stretch en route to the 93-72 victory.

Dezeree White led the way for the Eagles with 22 points while also pulling down 10 rebounds in the loss. Jalyn Jackson added 19 points, five assists, and five rebounds off the bench, while Amoni White (St. Louis, Mo.) also chipped in nine points off the bench.

The RedStorm were led by Skeens who scored a game-high 29 points in the win. She also hauled in seven rebounds and dished out six assists, while Aleea Crites notched a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Midway shot just 31.3 percent from the floor compared to a 50.7 percent shooting mark by the RedStorm. The home team also hit 7-of-14 from downtown whereas the Eagles hit just 4-of-15.

The selection show for the pairings of the NAIA National Championship Opening Round is set for 7 p.m. ET on Thursday (March 2).

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