GEORGETOWN, Ky. — Georgetown College used a 20-2 run late in the first half to break open a close game and the 23rd-ranked Tigers went on to post a 98-59 rout of the University of Rio Grande, Thursday night, in Mid-South Conference women’s basketball action at the Davis-Reid Alumni Gym.

Georgetown improved to 10-6 overall and 4-3 in the MSC with the victory.

Rio Grande suffered a third consecutive loss, slipping to 5-11 overall and 0-8 in league play.

The RedStorm trailed just 29-27 after junior guard Kate Hammond drilled a three-pointer with 8:02 left in the first half.

The Tigers reeled off 20 of the game’s next 22 points, though, to take a 20-point lead with just over two minutes left in the first half and finished with an 18-point advantage, 51-33, at the intermission.

Rio Grande got no closer the rest of the night and trailed by as many as 45 points, 92-47, after the Tigers’ Olivia Coleman hit a pair of free throws with 5:16 left in the game.

Andrea Howard had a game-high 26 points to pace a quartet of double-digit scorers for Georgetown, while Devanny King tossed in 19 points.

Kourtney Tyra had the Tigers’ top all-around performance, tough, posting a “triple-double” with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.

Lizza Jonas added 12 points for GC, which shot 49.2 percent from the field overall (31-for-63) while also enjoying a whopping 54-36 edge in rebounding.

The Tigers also connected on 28 of 37 free throw attempts in the contest compared to a 9-for-12 showing at the charity stripe by Rio Grande.

The RedStorm, which shot just 29.7 percent from the field (22-for-74), were led by a season-high 13 points from sophomore forward Janie Morris, while freshman forward Sarah Bonar added 12 points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds and two blocked shots.

Senior guard Shardai Morrison-Fountain finished with 11 points in a losing cause for Rio.

Rio Grande also played the final 23 minutes of the game without the services of Hammond, who was hit in the face while fouling Georgetown’s Dev Golden with 3:02 left in the first half.

Hammond was playing her third game with a broken nose she suffered during practice eight days earlier.

The RedStorm return to action on Saturday when they conclude their weekend road swing at St. Catharine College in a 2 p.m. tipoff at Lourdes Hall.