Try as they might, the WVU Tech women couldn't quite catch Rio Grande.

The Golden Bears consistently fought off double-digit leads and trailed by as little as three in the final minutes, but the No. 13 RedStorm was able to hold on for a 102-96 win Saturday  at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.

The game looked all but lost in the fourth quarter when Tech fell behind 97-79 with 6:48 on the clock. But as they had done all afternoon, the Golden Bears got themselves back in it.

A 14-0 run made it a 97-93 game with 3:35 still to play. Valiyah Yazzie and Rylee Allie both hit key 3-pointers and Yazzie found Alva Hedrich on a backdoor cut to punctuate the burst.

A shot by Rio's Lavender Ward stopped the run, but another 3 by Yazzie made it 99-96 with 2:04 left.

But that was the last Tech would score, and Ward made it a two-possession game with a nice drive to the basket after making the defense think pass with a minute to go.

Ella Skeens led Rio Grande (23-3, 14-1 River States Conference) with 25 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

Kaylee Darnell had 22 points and Jocelyn Abraham 21. Azyiah Williams dished out 11 assists.

Yazzie was 5-for-5 from 3-point range and finished with 21 points for Tech (16-10, 9-6). Allie had 20 points, including 12 of 14 for Tech in a stretch overlapping the second and third quarters.

Hedrich had 17 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots. Ca'Vashia Johnson and Faith Silva had 14 and 12 points, respectively.