CLAREMORE, Okla. – Rogers State women's basketball (7-6, 1-3 MIAA) started 2025 off right with a dominant 51-39 victory over Newman (5-7, 0-3 MIAA) on Thursday.
 
"We really locked down defensively in the second half," said Head Coach Heather Davis. "We focused on winning each quarter and the first game back from Christmas is hard for everyone. But our girls did not give up easy buckets and played well all around."
 
Alyza Aikins paced all scorers with a career-high 19 points, shooting eight of 13 from the field and 2-3 from beyond the arch. Aikins also tallied five rebounds. Ella Hafer put up 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Kate Melton recorded seven rebounds and five assists. Destiny Jones also had five rebounds.
 
In the first quarter, RSU hardly allowed any buckets and held Newman to three points until the two-minute mark in the first quarter. RSU was up 12-3 at this point and carried a 16-8 lead going into the second quarter. In the second quarter, Newman turned on the Jets and outscored RSU 14-10 to only trail 26-22 at the half.
 
The two sides matched each other stride for stride in the third quarter, but Aikins buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give RSU a 36-31 advantage going into the fourth quarter. RSU pulled away coming down the home stretch, as they outscored the Jets 15-8 in the final 10 minutes and held Newman to single digits in three of four quarters.
 
RSU will return to the floor on Wednesday, Jan. 8 when they travel to Fort Smith, Ark. to renew an old Heartland Conference rivalry against Arkansas Fort Smith. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.