OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - The Rogers State women's basketball team led from wire-to-wire as they defeated Oklahoma Baptist, 74-59, on Friday afternoon in the Sooner Athletic Conference semifinals to advance to the championship for the first time in program history.
Cortney Crockett opened the game with a trey and Hillcats led the rest of the way. RSU used a 7-0 run, capped off by a pair of free shots by sophomore Logan Froese, to take the first double-figure lead of the game with five minute to play in the half. The Cats ended the opening stanza with a 31-21 advantage as Crockett led all scorers with 15 points.
RSU continued to pour on the points in the second half as they used a 16-2 run to increase the lead to 21 points. Andrea Miles ignited the run as she dropped in a layup and Criner closed out the spurt with a jumper at the free throw line. The Lady Bison cut the deficit to 10 points with less than four minutes to play. However, the Cats finished strong and held onto their double figure lead.
Crockett led the charge with 19 points and four assists. Criner and Froese chipped in 14 points apiece and Candice Stewart rounded out the double-digit scorers with 13 points.
The Cats won the battle on the boards as they out rebounded the Lady Bison 45-33. RSU pulled in 19 offensive boards with Froese tallying eight of them. The Hilcats scored 14 second chance points and 29 points off turnovers. RSU had 13 steals while the Lady Bison turned over the ball 23 times.
OBU was led by Gabriell Mattox with 26 points. Samantha Smith was the only other Lady Bison to finish in double figures as she contributed 16 points. OBU shot 47 percent from the floor, 27 percent from long distance and 55 percent from the free throw line.
Rogers State (23-8, 15-7) will compete for its first Sooner Athletic Conference Championship on Saturday as they face second seeded and 18th-ranked Southern Nazarene at Abe Lemons Arena on the campus of Oklahoma City University. Tip-time is set for 4 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on RSU Radio 91.3 FM.
