SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. - The Rogers State women's basketball team escaped Bill George Arena with a 53-50 win over John Brown (Ark.) on Saturday afternoon to remain unbeaten in Sooner Athletic Conference play.  

The Golden Eagles opened the second half with a 10-point run to take a 35-26 lead. Senior Sierra Cornwell stopped the run with a steal and a layup. The Hillcats chipped away at the deficit and senior Rician Walker took over for the Cats. Walker tallied three-straight buckets including a conventional three-point play to give RSU a one-point lead. Walker started what would become a 14-0 run to give the Cats a 10-point lead with 5:46 to play. JBU clawed their way back into the game, out-scoring the Cats 8-3 in the final minutes of the game but the Hillcats hung on for the win.

The teams traded buckets throughout the first half. The largest lead of the half was four points as senior Kelby Fritz hit a trey to give the Hillcats a 15-11 lead. The Vinita, Okla. native sank a pair of free throws to end the half and give RSU a 24-21 lead at intermission.

Walker led the Cats with a career-high 14 points. She added three steals and four rebounds to the stat sheet as well. Fritz finished the game with 13 points while adding three steals. She had 11 first half points, going 3-for-5 from behind the arc.

JBU couldn't handle the RSU defense, committing a season-high 31 turnovers. RSU tallied 15 steals with eight of its nine players tallying one or more swipe.

With the win, the Hillcats move to 6-0 on the road this season with a 4-0 start in conference play for the first time in program history.

Rogers State (14-4, 4-0) returns to action on the road Thursday night as the Hillcats travel to No. 6 Oklahoma City University at 6 p.m. The game will be streamed live on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live and on RSU Radio 91.3 FM.