CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Rogers State Women's Basketball team dropped its second-straight MIAA game, falling to Newman 76-57 Saturday afternoon at the Claremore Expo Center.
After a strong start, going up 10-4 in the first five minutes, Rogers State fell victim to a 13-0 run from the visitors to close the first quarter. Newman would continue to pull away, going up by as much as 28 points in the third quarter before Rogers State made a late sure.
The Hillcats closed the gap to 16 with a 24-12 run that ended midway through the fourth quarter, but were unable to close the gap any further.
Vanessa Gajdosova led the Hillcats in scoring, one of three Hillcats in double figures, as she finished with 15 points. She also had six steals, tied for the eighth best performance in school history, to go along with four rebounds.
Seniors
Alicia Brown and
Darian Jackson also finished in double figures, scoring 13 points and 10 points, respectively. Brown was 6-for-9 from the field and also added a pair of rebounds, two assists and a block.
Jackson led the Hillcats on the glass, finishing with six rebounds. She also had a steal and an assist.
Samariah Thompson led the Hillcats off the bench, scoring seven points with two rebounds, along with a steal.
Bailey Kliewer added six points off the bench and had four rebounds.
Alyche Brown had four points and
Azaria Floyd finished with two points to wrap up the scoring for the Hillcats.
Rogers State finished the game shooting 31 percent from the field and just 17 percent from behind the arc, making just four of 24 attempts from three-point range. On the other end of the court, Newman shot 56 percent for the game and 57 percent from three-point range.
The Hillcats forced 23 turnovers from Newman, but converted them into just 17 points, while the Jets took 16 Hillcat turnovers and turned them into 25 points.
Rogers State will now hit the road for the first of six-straight games, including one exhibition, away from the Claremore Expo Center. The Hillcats will return to non-conference play, taking on Ouachita Baptist in Arkansas on December 16. Tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m. in Arkadelphia.
