CLAREMORE, Okla. - Led by a trio of seniors, the Rogers State women's basketball team tallied an 82-76 victory over Heartland Conference opponent St. Mary's (Texas) on Thursday night at the Claremore Expo.
Seniors DaNara Day, Katy Harsen and Clarissa Cannon combined for 60 points to lead the Hillcats past the Rattlers (14-6, 9-5 HC) who were the preseason favorite and are holding down third place in the league standings.
After opening the game with an 8-5 advantage, the Hillcats were held scoreless for five minutes which allowed the Rattlers to use a 15-0 run to take a 12 point lead. The Hillcats answered with a 15-5 run capped with a trey by Day from the left elbow. With one minute to play in the opening stanza, Harsen drained a three-pointer from the top of the key to cut the RSU deficit to one point but StMU held onto the advantage with a trey at the buzzer. The Rattlers took a 39-35 advantage into the locker room at intermission.
In the second frame, the teams traded buckets to start the half and RSU took its first lead of the half with 15:31 to play thanks to a well-defended three-pointer by Breanna Burford. During an eight minute stretch, RSU tallied 15 points while holding the Rattlers to two points to take a 68-56 advantage. StMU wouldn't go quietly. Despite holding a double digit lead until the final minute of the game, the Hillcats struggled from the charity stripe down the stretch, allowing StMU to outscored RSU 13-6 but the Hillcats held on for the win.
Day led the Hillcats in scoring with 22 points, Harsen followed with 20 points and Cannon rounded out the double digit scorers with 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Junior Jade Hardy tallied a career-high five assists on the night and the Hillcats edged the Rattlers on the boards, 38-32.
Morgan Pullins led the way for the Rattlers with 20 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Rogers State (8-14, 5-11) returns to action on action on Saturday as the Hillcats host Texas A&M International at the Claremore Expo. The Hillcats will be participating in Play 4Kay and ask that all fans wear pink in support for cancer awareness. The game will be streamed live on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live and on RSU Radio 91.3 FM.
