RSC Women's Basketball Weekly Report -- Week 8 -- Jan. 26, 2017 #RSC #RSCWBB

1/27/2017 12:00:00 AM

FLORENCE, Ky. -- The River States Conference Women's Basketball Weekly Report comes to you on a busy weekend of conference action as we hit the last weekend of January. Look for this weekly feature at RiverStatesConference.com.

OFF AND RUNNING
A big weekend of River States Conference women's basketball got going Thursday night with three games. The top two teams in each division were in action. The big win came from Midway University with the Eagles handing No. 21-ranked IU East its first conference loss, 64-63, at home. Another big win also came out of the RSC West Division with IU Kokomo beating Rio Grande, 88-74, at home to maintain a 1.0 game lead in the division over Midway.

Also on Thursday night was Ohio Christian winning at Brescia, 75-62, to bounce back from a loss earlier in the week and stay in second place in the RSC East and within 3.0 games of IU East with six games to go.

It was an exciting night of women's basketball within the conference, one that feeds into Friday and Saturday, where there will be nine games played over a span of less than 24 hours.

WEEKEND OUTLOOK
Friday night has three games on the docket with WVU Tech at Cincinnati Christian (5 p.m.), Asbury at Point Park (5:30 p.m.) and Alice Lloyd at Carlow (6 p.m.). All six of those teams are looking to move up in the standings and battle for playoff positioning.

Saturday's has six more games on tap beginning at 12 p.m. with Alice Lloyd at Point Park. The RSC Game of the Week is Midway at Ohio Christian as a pair of second-place teams square off, Midway with a chance to tie for first place. That depends on the result of IU Kokomo at WVU Tech (2 p.m.).

Also in action Saturday are No. 21 IU East at IU Southeast (1 p.m.), Rio Grande at Cincinnati Christian (1 p.m.) and Asbury at Carlow (1 p.m.). In all 12 of the 13 conference teams suit up this weekend with Brescia having off after its game Thursday night.

PLAYOFF PICTURE
Never too early to look at the postseason outlook, the races are shaping up in each division. Entering this the last weekend in January, 11 of the 13 conference teams are either currently holding a playoff spot or just 1.0 game on the outside. That puts just about the entire RSC in the playoff race with just three weeks left after this one. By the end of Saturday night, things will be two more games down the line for many teams battling for spots.

IU East has a 3.0 game lead in the RSC East Division. The next four teams are all bunched up with Ohio Christian (7-4 RSC), Point Park (6-4 RSC), WVU Tech (6-4 RSC) and Rio Grande (6-5 RSC).

The RSC West Division has IU Kokomo (8-3 RSC) and Midway (7-4 RSC) at the top and a hot IU Southeast (6-5 RSC) that has won three straight conference games to take control of third. Asbury (4-6 RSC), Cincinnati Christian (3-6 RSC) and Alice Lloyd (3-7 RSC) are all within a game.

NAIA DII TOP 25 POLL
This week's NAIA Division II Top 25 Poll release Jan. 24 once again had IU East (19-5) holding steready at No. 21 in the nation. The Red Wolves have been there the last few polls. Moving into the receiving-votes category with its recent win streak of six games was Ohio Christian. The Trailblazers have a 16-7 record overall. The next national rankings come out in two weeks Feb. 7.

STRETCH INTERNET
Nine of the 12 RSC women's basketball games from Thursday to Saturday will be broadcast on Stretch Internet, the official video streaming provider of the River States Conference and the RSC championships. Broadcast listings are at the RSC Game Central presented by Stretch Internet available at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/RSC. Stretch Internet is also the official video provider of the NAIA and NAIANetwork.com.