CLAREMORE, Okla. - The Rogers State women blew a first half lead to John Brown University to lose 68-57 in the conference season opener on Tuesday night from the Claremore Expo.
The Hillcats jumped out to an early 15 point lead just ten minutes into the game off an Andrea Miles jump shot. RSU held onto an 11 point lead throughout most of the first half until JBU went on a four point run to close out the period putting the score at 27-19 in favor of the Hillcats.
John Brown cut the Hillcat lead to one with a nine point run in the first 10 minutes of the second half. The Lady Eagles took its first lead of the game with 13:18 remaining in the game off a 3-pointer by Sierra Shipley rounding out a JBU 12-0 run over a three minute stretch.
JBU grabbed its largest lead at eleven with six seconds remaining off a pair of free throws by Katie Magels putting the final score at 68-57.
John Brown (6-2, 1-0) was led by the play of senior Ashley Taylor who tallied a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Mangels recorded 16 points for the Lady Eagles going 2-of-3 from behind the arc. Chelsea Garrison and Emily Ortiz rounded out the double digit scorers for JBU with 11 and 10 points respectively.
Logan Froese got off to a hot start with 8 of her 14 points coming in the first period for the Cats. Froese tallied her first double-double of the season pulling in 13 boards on the night. Cortney Crockett posted 10 points but shot a gloomy 26 percent from the field as the Hillcats were without Angie Criner following an injured suffered against Langston. Criner did not start and played one minute in the contest against JBU.
RSU shot treacherous from behind the arc hitting only one shot for 5 percent from 3-point range. The Cats weren't better from the field, hitting only 29 percent. JBU hit 50 percent from behind the arc while hitting 73 percent from the charity stripe.
The Lady Eagles turned the ball over 25 times as the Hillcats turned those into 14 steals for the night. Rogers State pulled in 19 offensive rebounds but couldn't overcome being off the mark from long distance as JBU outrebounded the Cats 42-40.
Rogers State (4-2, 0-1) will return to action in five days following the Thanksgiving break as Oklahoma Wesleyan travels to Claremore on Monday, Nov. 29. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. with the game being broadcast live on RSU Radio 91.3FM.
