ROGERS — Rogers High rebounded from a loss to Springdale High in the 7A/6A-West Conference opener with a pair of wins last week, but the Lady Mounties face a tough task Tuesday when they travel to conference leader Bentonville.

Rogers (10-6, 2-1) defeated Siloam Springs and Fayetteville to stay in the title chase and they have defeated Bentonville 12 of the last 13 times the two teams have met.

The Mounties (6-10, 0-3) will look to avoid the school’s worst conference start since 2004 when they take on the Tigers on Tuesday. Rogers has dominated the Tigers over the past over the past seven seasons, sweeping the yearly series five times while winning 10 of the last 11 meetings.

Over that span, Rogers has given up more than 50 points to the Tigers just once. But Bentonville is much improved as the Tigers have their sights set on a conference championship.

Rogers also started the 2010 season with three-straight conference losses but rebounded to win 10 of the next 11 games to finish second in the conference standings while advancing to yet another state tournament berth.

Play of the Night: McKinzie James came up with a steal near midcourt against Siloam Springs with four seconds left in the first half and the Lady Mounties senior hit a layup at the buzzer that gave Rogers a 35-26 halftime lead. James’ basket capped a 7-0 run the last 1 minute, 23 seconds of the first half and came after the Lady Panthers had cut the Rogers lead to 28-26.

James then scored six points in the fourth period against Fayetteville to help rally the Lady Mounties.

Players of the Games: Taylor Strickland scored 60 points last week, 35 against Siloam Springs and 25 against Fayetteville. She also had 11 rebounds against Siloam Springs.

Mounties junior Hunter Hill scored 21 points in the loss to Siloam Springs, including hitting several 3-pointers that kept the Mounties close. He had a team high eight points against Fayetteville.

Notable: Strickland made 23 of 25 free throw attempts in the two games last week. ... The Lady Mounties had 22 turnovers against Fayetteville but forced 23.

The Lingo: “It doesn’t get any easier, but Bentonville is another challenge. It’s a rivalry game, and we need to come back to practice ready to get better.”

Wayne Herren

Rogers High boys coach

“We needed this win in the worst way. We had to find a way to get in the win column and turn this thing around. We have to overcome ourselves a lot, but we overcame some adversity and we answered. That gave us a chance to win.”

Preston Early

Rogers High girls coach, after the Siloam Springs game

Up Next: Rogers hits the road Tuesday at Bentonville before returning home Friday when Van Buren visits.