AUSTIN, Texas – The St. Edward's Women's Basketball team cruised past Oklahoma Panhandle State Thursday night at the Recreation and Convocation Center to stay a game behind Lubbock Christian, setting the stage for Saturday's showdown of the Conference's top two teams.
 
St. Edward's (12-4, 6-2 HC) came out of the gates hot, scoring the first 12 points of the game over the first four minutes. The Hilltoppers would steadily increase their lead over the first half, garnering a 29-point lead with 12 seconds left in the half.
 
St. Edward's would head to the locker room with a 44-17 halftime advantage. At the break, Hilltopper center KHIANI CLARK, making her first career start in place of the injured KATHLEEN BRISBANE, took advantage of the situation, recording 15 first-half rebounds and scoring nine points.
 
Senior leader, AIMEE DURBIDGE, also had an impressive first half, scoring 14 points to lead all scorers.
 
As the second half began, it was the Aggies who looked determined to make a comeback. Over the first eight minutes of the second half, the Aggies outscored the Hilltoppers by five to cut the lead to 22.
 
Striving to pull off an unimaginable comeback, Oklahoma Panhandle (2-16, 0-8 HC) cut the deficit to 16 with 7:35 left to play. However, that would be as close as they would get to St. Edward's, as they would hold on for the 79-62 victory.
 
Sophomore, KHIANI CLARK, ended the night with a career-high, 19 rebounds. Clark fell eight short of the St. Edward's single game record (28) set by Inger Brown in 1983 and also Kathryn Hopkins in 1981. Tonight's performance puts Clark tied for ninth all-time in the category.
 
In regards to her accomplishment, Clark said, "I knew coming in that I was going to have to step up and play aggressive to match Kat's (Brisbane) play so that there was no drop off in the starting lineup."
 
"Playing aggressive led to the numbers that ended up being my career high," Clark added.
 
AIMEE DURBIDGE led all scorers on the night, setting a career high, 24-points on 11-of-16 shooting. Durbidge looks to be finding her form for St. Edward's as she has averaged 14.3 points per game over the last three contests.
 
"Heading into late January, I knew I had to look to be more of an offensive weapon for our team. I have tried to be more aggressive lately and my teammates did a great job of getting me the ball in open spots again tonight," Durbidge stated after her impressive performance.
 
Next on the night to set a career-high was JAIMIE KADLECEK. The senior pulled down a new high, 11 rebounds, to go along with 10 points, joining Clark with a double-double.
 
"Tonight I just wanted to let loose, have fun, and enjoy the game. I wasn't really worried about anything else. I think as a team we just wanted to go out and enjoy ourselves and that's exactly what we did," Kadlecek said after the game.
 
When asked about her three record setters and teams performance, head coach J.J. Riehl said, "I thought that we came out really well. We found the open man and shared the ball."
 
"Khi (Clark) did a great job on the boards. Nineteen is a big number and she really set the tone early. Aimee was unbelievable and seemed to be everywhere on the floor. I'm very happy that her offensive game is starting to get going. And J (Kadlecek) was big off the bench with a double-double. She was definitely our spark plug tonight," Riehl said of her players.
 
St. Edward's will tip off against Lubbock Christian Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The winner of the contest will hold sole possession of first place concluding the first round of Heartland Conference play. Live coverage will be available via the St. Edward's Athletic website. 

                                             Heartland           Overall
Team (Preseason)                 W-L                   W-L
Lubbock Christian* (1)           7-1                    13-5
St. Edward's (4)                       6-2                    12-4
UA Fort Smith (7)                    6-2                     8-7
St. Mary's (2)                            6-3                    12-5
UT-Permian Basin (8)             4-4                    10-6
TAMU-International (3)          4-5                     8-9
Oklahoma Christian* (6)         3-5                    6-10
Rogers State* (9)                     3-5                    5-11
Newman (5)                             2-6                    5-11
Panhandle State (10)              0-8                    2-16
* - Not eligible for HC Tournament due to NCAA Transition Year.
 
SCHEDULE/RESULTS
January 19
LCU 88, OPSU 49
 
January 22
SEU 79, OPSU 62
STMU 68, TAMIU 42
UAFS 58, NU 44
OC 76, RSU 67
LCU 89, UTPB 76
 
January 24
OPSU at UTPB                             1:00 PM
NU at RSU                                    1:00 PM
LCU at SEU                                   1:00 PM
OC at UAFS                                   1:00 PM