CLAREMORE, Okla. - The Rogers State women's basketball team started strong on Saturday afternoon but were unable to come away with the win as Lubbock Christian escaped the Claremore Expo with a 78-73 victory.

The Hillcats opened the first stanza with a 9-0 run, capped off by a Sierra Cornwell trey. LCU's Brittany Roberts put the Chaps on the board with a bucket from long distance however, the Hillcat offense did not back down. RSU used an 8-0 run to take a 17-3 lead with 13 minutes to play in the half.

The Lady Chaps used a13-3 rally of their own to cut the deficit to four points. Silva pushed the Hillcat advantage back to seven but LCU continued to chip away at the RSU lead and knotted the score with 1:26 left in the first half. A three pointer by Silva gave the Cats a 34-32 lead at intermission.

The second half started much like the first with a 9-0 run by the Hillcats. However the Chaps did not relinquish, cutting the Hillcats lead to one point with 10 minutes to play. Kelsey Canavan gave the Chaps the lead with a layup. LCU hit back-to-back buckets to take a three-point lead with 30 seconds remaining in the game. RSU was unable to convert bucket at the other end of the court and was forced to foul a LCU team that shot 89 percent from the line. Superb free throw shooting carried the Chaps down the stretch as six of their final 12 points came from the charity stripe.    

Leah Smith led the Hillcats with 18 points. Cornwell followed with 15 points while Silva tallied 10 points. The Hillcat managed to shoot just 37 percent from the field and 29 percent from long distance.

LCU was led by Brittany Roberts and Emily Atkins with 18 points apiece. The Chaps went 31-for-35 from the charity stripe and shot 40 percent from the field.

Rogers State (7-3, 2-1) returns to the hardwood on Thursday as they take a one-game hiatus from conference play to host Ecclesia College at the Claremore Expo. The game is set to tip at 7 p.m. and will be streamed live at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.