JOPLIN, Mo. – Despite outscoring the Lions by four points in the second half, Rogers State women's basketball (8-11, 3-10 MIAA) couldn't complete the comeback against Missouri Southern (15-4, 11-2 MIAA) in the 76-54 game on Saturday.
 
Alayzha Knapp led the Hillcats with 21 points along with six rebounds, two assists and a block. Alyza Aikins put up 14 points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal. Kaya Goldsby contributed eight points with three rebounds, three steals and an assist.
 
After RSU opened the game with a 4-3 lead, the Lions answered back with a 12-0 run to up 15-4 just over midway through the first quarter. The Hillcats were able to get the lead back down to 15-11 with a 7-0 run of their own. However, MSSU was able to finish the period with a 6-1 run to push back out to 21-12.
 
They owned the second quarter as they started on an 11-0 run that finished with three-straight three pointers to go up 32-12. The Hillcats were unable to string together any sustained runs as they trailed 50-24 going into the break after Southern outscored them 29-12 in the period.
 
RSU refused to go down as they came out fighting in the third quarter and managed to outshoot the Lions 17-11 and got the lead down to 59-41, but still trailed 61-41 going into the fourth quarter. The Lions tried to stifle the Hillcats momentum as they opened the final 10 minutes on a 7-0 run to go back up 68-41. However, RSU kept battling as they put together an 11-2 run down the stretch get the margin down to 70-52. Unfortunately, Southern closed out the game on a 6-2 run to seal the 76-54 win.
 
The Hillcats will return to the Claremore Expo Center on Thursday, Feb.1 as they host Washburn. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.