CLAREMORE, Okla. – A fast start by visiting Southern Nazarene was too much for the Rogers State women's basketball team to overcome in a 70-62 loss to the Crimson Storm on Tuesday (Nov. 22) at the Claremore Expo Center.
 
SNU started the game with a 20-4 run in the first five minutes of the contest en route to the victory. The Crimson Storm started with consecutive 3-pointers, and added three quick baskets to make it 12-2 less than three minutes into the game. Back-to-back triples from Abby Boyd upped the advantage to 20-4, the largest lead of the first half.
 
Courtney Smith sparked a Hillcat run with a 3-pointer and a layup on back-to-back trips. Darian Jackson scored on a layup for a 20-11 score with 2:36 left in the first period. The navy and red pulled to seven points down, 20-13, after two free throws from Lauren Schuldt. The Cats trailed by nine at 24-15 after one period.
 
In the second period, RSU got as close as five points after a layup from Natasha Kindred made it 26-21 with 4:42 remaining, but the Crimson Storm ended the half with a 12-4 run for a halftime score of 38-25.
 
The spurt continued for SNU in the second half as they scored the first six points out of the locker room to gain a 44-25 lead, the largest of the game, less than one minute into the second half. The Crimson Storm held a 13-point advantage after three periods at 55-42.
 
RSU chipped away at the SNU lead in the final period, trailing by only seven at 58-51 after a layup from Jackson with 3:46 left. With 30 seconds remaining, Nikola Nedoroscikova cut the deficit to 66-60 with a driving layup. Nedoroscikova hit two free throws with 22 seconds left for the smallest margin of the second half at 67-62. The Crimson Storm made enough free throws down the stretch for the 70-62 win.  
 
The Hillcats finished the game at 33.8 percent shooting, including only 2-for-16 shooting from 3. SNU shot 39.7 (23-58) percent from the field, but 40.9 percent (9-22) from 3-point distance.
 
Jackson missed a double-double by one rebound as she totaled 12 points and nine rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. Kindred scored a team-high 14 points with seven rebounds. Nedorosckova finished with six points, six rebounds, six assists and five steals.
 
Boyd of SNU posted a game-high 20 points, and Adrienne Berry added 19 points and eight rebounds.
 
The Hillcats (2-3) go on the road for the next two of three contests, starting with a game at Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. with radio coverage available at 91.3 FM and on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.