Senior guard Mariah Green gave UAFS what seemed like a comfortable lead against Rogers State when she sank a pair of free throws with 54 seconds left to give the Lady Lions a five-point edge.

The Lady Lions, however, had to wait until the final horn sounded before they could celebrate their Heartland Conference win against the Hillcats on Wednesday night at the Stubblefield Center.

Rogers State scored four-consecutive points over the waning seconds and Hillcats guard Carlye Bohannan's desperation potential game-winning jumper was off the mark as the horn sounded to give the Lady Lions a 54-53 win.

UAFS (7-13, 4-3) avenged an earlier 71-65 road loss to Rogers State (10-10, 3-4) at the Claremore (Okla.) Expo Center. The Lady Lions, who along with the Hillcats were the only conference teams to play on Wednesday night, remained tied for third place in the conference and trail conference leader Lubbock Christian by three games and second place Newman by one game.

The Lady Lions 38 percent from the field (21 of 56) – they were only 1-of-10 shooting from 3-point range – and shot only 65 percent from the free-throw line.
UAFS battled through foul trouble throughout the game with senior forward and season scoring leader Ellie Lehne missing considerable minutes because of foul trouble. Five Lady Lions finished with three fouls or more, and UAFS was called for 22 of the 40 total fouls in the game.

With their go-to scorer on the bench, UAFS got the spark it needed from freshman forward Leiloni Culley. Culley, who like Lehne and junior guard Alexsis Brown finished with four fouls, came off the bench to score a career-high 17 points to go with a career-high six rebounds.

Her rebounding helped the Lady Lions out-rebound the Hillcats by six rebounds (42-36). Senior forward Sarah Elkins, who also contributed quality minutes off the bench when her teammates began collecting fouls, had a team-high eight rebounds.

UAFS not only weathered foul trouble but sloppy play at times, too. The Lady Lions committed 21 turnovers, which led to 16 points for the Hillcats.

The Lady Lions held the Hillcats, who trailed 32-22 at halftime, to just 29-percent shooting from the field (15 of 52), including a 4-of-16 effort from 3-point range. Rogers State shot 73 percent from the free-throw line (19 of 26).

No Hillcat scored in double-figures. Senior guard Desiree Nelson led all Hillcats with nine points. Senior forwards Lindsey Byfield and Lauren Schuldt and junior forward Darian Jackson each had six rebounds apiece.

Schuldt, who sat considerable minutes with foul trouble as well, finished with seven points and a team-high three blocked shots.

UAFS will take brief break from regular-season play before returning to conference action at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 7 when the Lady Lions host the Newman Jets for the first time this season at the Stubblefield Center.         
           
 
WOMEN
HEARTLAND CONFERENCE
UAFS 54, ROGERS STATE 53
Rogers State    15        7          16        15        --          53
UAFS               17        15        8          14        --          54
Rogers State (10-10, 3-4): Nelson 9, Schuldt 8, Johnson 8, Floyd 7, Brown 6, Jackson 6, Byfield 5, Bohannan 4
UAFS (7-13, 4-3): Culley 17, Green 9, Gulley 6, Elkins 4, Terry 4, D. Brown 4, A. Brown 4, Lehne 3, Bonham 3