ALVA, Okla.- The Rogers State women's basketball team fell short on Thursday evening as Northwestern Oklahoma State registered a 68-65 victory over the Hillcats at Percefull Fieldhouse.

The Hillcats got the last look as Leah Smith shot a trey from the corner at the buzzer however, the shot bounced in and out of the basket as the RSU suffered its second straight defeat.

Coach Amy Williams' squad held a three-point advantage with 1:40 to play but could not hang on through the final stretch as the Lady Rangers outscored the Cats 6-0. Talytha Williams chopped the RSU lead to one point with a layup with 1:30 to play. RSU missed a pair of opportunities on offense and LaParis Newsom gave NWOSU the one point lead by converting two free throws. RSU missed two more scoring opportunities and was forced to foul with five seconds remaining. Autumn Klugh sunk both shots from the charity stripe with 4.3 seconds to play.

NWOSU led for most of the contest, opening the game with a 6-0 run and building a 12-4 lead six minutes into the game. With less than 12 minutes to play in the half, RSU cut the deficit to a bucket with a long distance shot from Brittani Smith at the top of the arc. Leah Smith rattled in a trey from 25 feet out at the buzzer to cut the Cats deficit to 36-33 at the break.

RSU took their first lead of the game just under 16 minutes to play. Ariani Silva drove to the basket and scored while drawing the foul. She converted the free shot from the line to grant the Cats a one-point advantage. The lead was short-lived as the Lady Rangers went on an 8-0 run. RSU took the lead five times in the second half but its largest lead was just three points.

Three Hillcats reached double figures led by Logan Froese with 13 points. Gianna Woods registered her eighth double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds while Brittani Smith rounded out the group with 11 points.

Rogers State (16-9, 10-7) returns to action on Saturday as it host Oklahoma Christian inside the friendly confines of the Claremore Expo. Tipoff is slated for 3 p.m. and will be streamed live at www.rsuhillcats.com/live. The first 750 fans in attendance will receive a Hillcat bobblehead decked out in RSU baseball and softball gear.