No. 15 Rogers State Narrowly Avoids John Brown Upset Bid, 53-50
SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. (January 12, 2013) - Senior guard Anna Parish and sophomore guard Lauren Rogers each finished the evening with 10 points but it wasn't enough as No. 15 Rogers State (Okla.) narrowly avoided the Golden Eagle's upset bid with a 53-50 win in Bill George Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Parish converted all five of her free throws attempted en route to her double-digit performance while Rogers went 4-of-7 from the field, including two triples and three rebounds. Junior center Kami Garrison collected a team-high five rebounds, as did sophomore forward Morgan Ankrom.
Abbie Warren kept John Brown close in the early goings, nailing a triple that tied the score at nine apiece. After allowing the next four points to fall Rogers State's way, Rogers buried a three-pointer followed by Warren's field goal, handing the Golden Eagles a one-point advantage, 16-15. As RSU reclaimed the lead, Warren stepped up again, knocking down a pair of free throws, handing John Brown its third lead of the game, 18-17, with 4:50 remaining in the half.
The Hillcats managed to notch the next five points, digging JBU into a four-point hole. However, Parish responded by converting a conventional three-point play, draining the field goal and converting the ensuing free throw, keeping John Brown in the hunt at halftime.
Both teams had trouble holding onto the ball as the host squad committed 13 turnovers in the first half, but also forced Rogers State into 10 miscues. John Brown's hot three-point shooting helped keep them in the contest as the Golden Eagles shot 6-of-9 from the free throw line (66.7 percent) while holding the Hillcat offense to just 33.3 percent shooting from the floor (9-of27) and only permitting three triples.
The Golden Eagles began the second half by dropping four of its first five attempts from the field as Rogers and Garrison each knocked down a trey in addition to field goals from Sierra Shipley and Ankrom. JBU wouldn't stop there, grabbing a game-high eight-point lead when Rogers' shot in the paint fell, giving John Brown a 34-26 margin with 14:08 remaining in the half.
Rogers State responded by piecing together a 12-4 run to knot the score at 38 each. It didn't stop there, however, as the Hillcats forced five more JBU turnovers, scoring the next nine points, taking the 47-38 lead with 5:46 remaining. After three free throws from Shipley, the RSU lead would balloon back to its game-high nine point, 50-41, offering John Brown only over three minutes left to make a final push.
Sporting the eight-point lead, Barenberg's bucket down low in addition to Parrish's back-to-back makes from the charity stripe pulled JBU to within four, but consecutive defensive fouls allowed RSU to convert 3-of-4 chances at the free throw line before Shipley's final shot fell, handing Rogers State the final, 53-50.
John Brown held RSU without a field goal for the final 5:46 of the game.
The Golden Eagles finished a much better shooting second half, knocking down shots at a 47.1 percent clip, finishing 14-of-36 from the field (38.9 percent). The Hillcats almost doubled the host squad's shot opportunities, finishing the game 19-of-60 from the field, converting 31.7 percent of its chances. Rogers State held a sizable advantage in points in the paint, nabbing the 22-14 lead, but John Brown held close in second-chance points (8-4) and points off turnover (23-21). RSU's bench played a large role, outscoring the Golden Eagle reserves, 26-14.
With the win, the Hillcats improve to 14-4 overall and a perfect mark in conference play at 4-0. John Brown, suffering its second-straight defeat to a ranked opponent and failing to pull its record even, falls to 7-9 overall and 2-2 in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
JBU returns to action against Oklahoma Baptist (8-7, 1-3 SAC) on Thursday, Jan. 17. Game time is slated for 6:00 p.m. in Shawnee, Okla.
