WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Rogers State women's basketball (1-0) rolled to a 85-63 victory over MSU Moorhead (0-1) in the MIAA/NSIC Challenge on Friday.
In total, five Hillcats finished in double digits in the win. In a spectacular performance, Julie Luna led the squad with 17 points and shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from beyond the arch and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Vanessa Gajdosova also put up 17 points and led the team with four rebounds as well as three assists. Jordan Lewis added 14 points with three rebounds and two assists. Both Kloe Bowin and Bailey Kliewer contributed 12 points apiece, with Bowin adding three rebounds, three assists and a steal while Kliewer added four rebounds and a steal.
RSU came out of the gate white hot as they opened on a 12-0 run to start the game. The Dragons began to show some life as they finally got the board. However, the Hillcats overpowered them and closed out the period on a 7-0 run to push out to a 23-8 advantage.
In the second quarter, MSUM began to find their footing and began to mount a comeback. They managed to pull off a 9-2 run early in the period to trim the lead to 27-17, and eventually worked it down to a two possession game at 35-29 with just over a minute left in the half. RSU held strong and took a 38-31 lead into the intermission.
After the break, the Dragons picked up where they left off as they got two quick buckets to trim the deficit to just three points at 38-35. However, the Hillcats answered with an 8-2 run that put them back up 40-35. They eventually pushed back out to 60-48, and took a 62-48 lead into the final 10 minutes.
MSUM battled to get the lead back under 10 points as the fourth quarter began, and eventually trimmed it to 64-55. Again though, RSU responded with a 17-2 run to go up 80-57. They took their largest lead of the game at 85-61 with just under a minute left, and eventually took the 85-63 victory.
The Hillcats will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 13 as they face off against Northern State in the final game of the MIAA/NSIC Challenge. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m.
