Box Score WICHITA, Kan. – With a few familiar faces from last season and six newcomers, the Regis University women's basketball team opened regular season action against the Oklahoma Christian Eagles. A well-balanced scoring effort helped the Rangers to earn their first win of the 2016-17 season defeating the Eagles 68-61.
 
An even first quarter saw Regis take their first lead of the game at just under six minutes to play. The Eagles quickly responded to take back a slight lead but for the remainder of the quarter both teams battled back-and-forth. The score sat favoring the Rangers, 17-16, after the first quarter.
 
RU exploded offensively in the second quarter opening with a 7-2 run. Regis held Oklahoma Christian to just nine points as they expanded their lead to 37-25 by halftime.
 
The Eagles came out of the locker room with vengeance flipping the script and outscoring Regis 24-12 in the third quarter. The Rangers lack of scoring in the third allowed Oklahoma Christian to tie it up, 49-49, headed into the final quarter of play.
 
Both teams experienced a scoring drought for roughly three minutes midway through the fourth. Lena Jaycox broke the silence draining one from distance to give RU a 61-52 lead with two and a half minutes to play. An 8-1 run by the Eagles made things interesting as time continued to wind down; the Rangers held a slight 62-60 lead.
 
With under 30 seconds to play, the Eagles were forced to foul to stop the clock three times sending Chante Church, Karlyn Johnson and Mary Sigler to the line. All three capitalized on the opportunity to keep a small cushion in the RU lead going a perfect 6-for-6 from the line in the final seconds to hold off Oklahoma Christian.
 
Sigler led the Rangers offensively dropping 13 points on 4-of-8 from the field and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. She also added six rebounds, two assists and a steal. Church chipped in with 12 points and six boards while Johnson recorded 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
 
Regis dominated on the glass outrebounding the Eagles 50-31, including chasing down 16 offensive boards. Shelby Espinosa led the charge with eight.
 
RU saw just three more shot attempts than OC, 58-55, but were much more efficient producing a 39.7 field-goal percentage to the Eagles 32.7. The difference maker was the amount of scoring each Regis player produced while on the court. RU saw 25 points of assistance from the bench to just one single point from the Eagles bench.
 
The Rangers are back in action Saturday, November 12 at 2 p.m. against Newman University.