CLAREMORE, Okla. - It took two overtime periods to decide the winner on Saturday afternoon as the Rogers State women's basketball team fell to Heartland Conference opponent Texas A&M International 87-76 at the Claremore Expo.
RSU used an 8-2 run to start the second frame and took its first lead of the game with 17 minutes to play with a pair of made free throws by Katy Harsen. RSU build a 10 point advantage with eight minutes to play but the Dustdevils stormed back and tied the game 57-57 with two minutes remaining in the game. The teams traded buckets for the remainder of regulation. Harsen grabbed a rebound and a put back with 42 seconds remaining to tie the game and with three seconds to play she made the backside of a pair of free throws to give the Hillcats a one-point lead. Tina Dang drew a foul with two seconds remaining and tied the game, making the front side of the double bonus free throws to tie the game and sent it to overtime.
In the first overtime period, RSU jumped out to a four-point lead and clung to the advantage until the one minute mark where the Dustdevils took the lead with a pair of free throws by Dang. TAMIU extended its lead to three points with a trey by Jessica Prieto but a Harsen layup knotted the score for the sixth time in the contest. The last 30 seconds of the period came down to free throw shooting as Prieto made both of her shots at the charity stripe to give TAMIU the lead, but Clarissa Cannon drained a pair at the line to keep the Cats alive and force a second overtime.
The Dustdevils were playing in their third overtime of the season while the Hillcats were playing in their first of the season. TAMIU's experience in overtime showed in the second period as the Dustdevils outscored the Hillcats 9-2 in the first two minutes, burying a trio of triples to start the frame. The Hillcats went cold on offense in the second overtime and the Dustdevils heated up on offense, outscoring RSU 15-4 in the stanza.
The Dustdevils started strong on offense, converting six of their eight shots with three treys in the first ten minutes of the opening frame. Despite trailing the entire first stanza, the Hillcats ended the first half of regulation on a 6-0 run and capped the scoring with a trey by DaNara Day from the left elbow. The Cats trailed TAMIU 33-28 at the break.
Cannon led the Hillcats with a double-double, tallying 21 points and 13 rebounds. The senior went 13-15 from the charity stripe for the game. Harsen tallied 16 points and became only the fourth Hillcat women's basketball player to surpass the 400-point mark in a single season. Day rounded out the group with 15 points.
Malika Jackson led the Dustdevils with 23 points and 11 rebounds. TAMIU was 7-of-10 from the field and 5-for-6 from long distance in overtime. The Dustdevils were 4-for-26 from long distance during regulation.
Rogers State (8-15, 5-12) will take the road next week as the Hillcats travel to Oklahoma City to take on Heartland Conference foe Oklahoma Christian on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. The game will be streamed live on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live and on RSU Radio 91.3 FM.
