CLAREMORE, Okla. – Despite a solid fourth quarter the Rogers State women couldn't overcome the Heartland Conference leading St. Mary's Ratters Saturday afternoon at the Claremore Expo in a 71-57 loss to close out a five game home stand for the Hillcats.
 
StMU tallied nine unanswered points, led by four points from Kiara Etheridge, over a 2:73 stretch in the middle of the third quarter to give the Rattlers a 15 point advantage but a right wing 3-pointer from Lindsey Byfield stopped the run.
 
Etheridge responded with a 5-0 run of her own to give StMU a 53-35 lead with 1:29 remaining in the third quarter. The Hillcats would head to the fourth trailing by 21 points after the Rattlers shot 55.6 percent in the third quarter including 3-of-4 from 3-point.
 
RSU didn't go away with ease, after a layup by Tyra Cormier stretched the Rattler lead to 23 points, the Hillcats put on the full court press defensively and found its offensive attack shooting 41 percent in the final stanza.  Despite the hot shooting in the fourth by RSU the Rattlers came away with the 71-57 victory.
 
The Rattlers built a 19-10 advantage in the first quarter as the Hillcats struggled offensively shooting just 20 percent from the field. RSU hammered the boards in the second period outrebounding StMU 25-22 in the first half of action and entering the intermission down 31-23 to the visitors from San Antonio.
 
Kiara Etheridge led the way for St. Mary's (17-3, 9-1) as the senior tallied 21 points and 10 rebounds. Arysia Porter added 19 points and nine rebounds as the Rattlers won the battle of the boards 43-38. StMU shot 43 percent from the field despite making just three field goals in the fourth quarter.
 
RSU was led by Heather Roberts as the redshirt junior tallied 15 points in her 14^th start of the season. Nikola Nedoroscikova finished with ten points for the Hillcats while dishing out six assists. Lauren Schuldt blocked three shots, matching her single game high for her sophomore campaign, as the Hillcats rejected six Rattler shots as a team.
 
Rogers State (6-14, 2-8) travels to Newman University on Thursday, February 2 in Wichita, Kan. for the first road contest since January 7 for the Hillcat women. RSU Radio 91.3 FM will provided play-by-play coverage and the Hillcat Network will simulcast the audio at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.