BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – Rogers State women's basketball started the 2011-12 campaign on the road Friday night at the 2011 Baker Wildcat Classic with a 75-68 victory over MidAmerica Nazarene at George F. Collins, Jr. Sports & Convention Center.
After holding tight for the opening eight minutes of the first half the Hillcats broke away from the Pioneers going on a 11-6 run over the next six and half minutes. Off a Leah Smith steal, Rician Walker's layup put the Hillcat lead at 25-16 at that mark.
MNU responded by chipping away at the Hillcat lead and eventually building a 35-33 lead of their own to enter intermission.
The second half saw the Pioneers build the lead to five points in the opening two minutes before RSU answered with a seven point run to take a 45-43 lead with 16:44 remaining.
A Sasha Barnes layup put the Cats up 65-62 with 7:26 remaining starting what would become a eight point lead for RSU capped by a Leah Smith layup with just under three minutes to go.
Kiley Herold's 3-pointer cut the Hillcat lead to five with 1:44 left but RSU sealed the deal on a Ariani Silva layup with 18 seconds on the clock giving coach Amy Williams' squad a win in the season opener.
Silva led all scorers with 17 points hitting 7-of-15 from the field. Senior Brittani Smith tallied 15 points to go with five rebounds while Gianna Woods added nine boards and 14 points. Logan Froese added to the Hillcats scoring in the post dropping 10 points.
Rachel Boen led the Pioneers in scoring with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. MNU shot 36.8 percent from field goal range while knocking in 83 percent from the charity stripe.
The Hillcats hit 63.6 percent from the free throw line while knocking in only 6-of-19 from behind the arc while committing 28 turnovers and dishing out only 18 assists. The Cats forced the Pioneers into 27 turnovers.
RSU will complete day two action of the 2011 Baker Wildcat Classic tomorrow, Nov. 5 facing host Baker University at 3 p.m. Baker is providing free video streaming of the complete classic here. For more information on Hillcat Basketball visit www.rsuhillcats.com.
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