CHICKASHA, Okla. - Rogers State took advantage of excellent free throw shooting to win a nail bitter over the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, 77-74 Saturday night in Chickasha.
The Hillcats led the Drovers by 14 points with 13 minutes remaining in the second half. But an excellent individual performance by Ivaney Marquez cut the RSU lead to four points in a flash. Marquez poured 11 of her game-high 24 points in a five minute span to put the Drovers back in the mix.
The Hillcats were led by the strong play of senior forward Azzie Knox, who recorded her seventh double-double of the season, finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Knox showed great senior leadership when an issue with the scorebook halted play for nearly five minutes with 38.5 seconds remaining in the game. When play finally resumed Knox knocked down two key free throws to put the Hillcats ahead by four. Knox came up with eight of her 14 second half points in the final seven minutes of the game.
A 3-pointer by Charite Lewis with 5.2 seconds made it a one point game. A Drover foul put Knox on the charity stripe once more and again she made both free throws to finish the game 9-of-10 from the line. USAO's Marquez was able to get off two 3-point attempts before the final buzzer but didn't draw iron.
The Hillcats were impressive from the free throw line, hitting 80 percent on the night and it counted down the stretch as the final RSU field goal came with 3:49 remaining. Three Cats joined Knox in double figures. Katie Rice finished with 13 points and Hunter Peterson added 11. Sophia Piggie scored 11 points, with eight of those points coming in the first half.
The Drovers were marred by 18 turnovers and the Hillcats capitalized by scoring 16 points off turnover and recorded ten steals. USAO guard Aita Gueye had 11 points in the first half, but was only able to get two points in the second half to finish with 13. The only other Drover to finish with double digit scoring was Charite Lewis with 11 points.
Rogers State (16-10, 10-8) clinched its first winning season with the victory and remains in sixth place in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings. The Hillcats will stay on the road to start next week as they face Mid-America Christian on Thursday night in Oklahoma City, Okla. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the game will be carried live on RSU Radio 91.3 FM.
