SHAWNEE, Okla. – The Rogers State women's basketball team fell to St. Gregory's in a hard-fought 73-69 loss on Saturday afternoon at W.P. Wood Fieldhouse in Shawnee.

The score was knotted nine times throughout the contest with the Hillcats stretching their lead to eight points, the largest lead of the game, with seven minutes to play. Ariani Silva hit a trey and Sierra Cornwell followed with a layup to push the lead to 60-52. The lead was short-lived as SGU used a 9-1 run to even the score at 61-61.

Sharp shooting from the charity stripe led the Cavs to victory as they sunk seven of their final nine attempts. SGU took a three-point advantage with 1:30 to play and increase the Hillcat deficit to five with a pair of made free throws by Jalisa Howard. With time winding down , RSU was forced to foul to and SGU secured the win with free throws.  

SGU opened the game with a 7-1 run. The Hillcats quickly recovered and responded with a 7-1 run of their own capped off with a steal by Sasha Barnes and a layup by Sierra Cornwell to tie the contest 8-8. The teams traded buckets the rest of the half with the Cavaliers taking a one-point advantage into the locker room at the break.

St. Gregory's (11-0, 4-0), who was picked to finish last in the Sooner Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll, protected its perfect record with the win.

RSU was led in scoring by Silva with 17 points. Logan Froese and Cornwell followed with 16 points apiece while Leah Smith rounded out the double figure scorers with 10 points.

Rogers State (9-4, 3-2) will return to the Claremore Expo on Monday as it hosts Oklahoma Baptist at 3 p.m. The game will be streamed live at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.