CLAREMORE, Okla. - The first-year Rogers State program had no seniors to recognize on "Senior Night" at the Claremore Expo. Instead, the Hillcats gave their fans a glimpse of what's to come as they closed out the home portion of their inaugural season with a 55-46 win over John Brown Monday. 
 

The victory snapped a season-long five-game losing streak for the Hillcats. Junior Azzie Knox posted 14 points and nine rebounds while freshmen Hayley KnifeChief and Hunter Peterson combined for 20 points, six rebounds, six assists and five steals. The 12 players who saw action in the home finale included five juniors, three sophomores and four freshmen. Despite their lack of experience, the Cats posted an 8-6 record at home in 2007-08 and went 6-5 in conference games at the Expo.
 

By no means did John Brown make winning the final home game of the season an easy task for RSU. The two teams were tied five times and exchanged the lead four times in the first half alone. KnifeChief buried three 3-pointers in the first half to help the Cats keep pace with JBU. Katie Rice scored the final bucket of the first half on a nice dish from KnifeChief to give the Hillcats a 29-26 advantage at the break.
 

RSU built an eight-point lead midway through the second half on a bucket by Hunter Peterson and kept the Golden Eagles at arm's length the rest of the way. JBU briefly cut the lead to four on a trey from Micaela Cully with 2:37 remaining. However, Knox responded with back-to-back baskets to push the lead back to eight and secure the win.
 

JBU held a 37-29 rebounding advantage over the Hillcats, but were forced into 23 turnovers as RSU picked up 15 steals. Yoda Woods swiped five steals to go along with six points and four rebounds.
 

Rogers State (12-14, 8-10) moved into a tie with Wayland Baptist for seventh place in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings with the win. The Hillcats close the regular season with four straight road games beginning Thursday at Northwestern Oklahoma State. The Cats and Lady Rangers are set to tip-off at 6 p.m. and the game will be aired live on RSU Radio 91.3 FM.