It was chilly in Williams Arena, but it got even colder when the Royals took the floor.

The second-ranked Islanders (25-4) held Rogers without a field goal in the first half while building an insurmountable 17-point lead. The Royals went 0-for-18 from the floor and 9-for-11 from the free-throw line while falling behind 26-9 at the intermission.

“We came out wanting to get stops and steals,” Islanders sophomore forward Allina Starr said. She had a team-high seven steals and five assists to go along with eight points. “We have been working hard to get better playing man-to-man defense.”

Rogers (15-15) made its first basket with about 14 minutes remaining in the game. It finished with two baskets on the day, winding up 2-for-38 from the floor for 5 percent shooting.

“I can’t give all the credit to our defense,” Islanders coach Faith Johnson Patterson said. “It was a combination of our defense and them having a bad day shooting.

“I think they had the jitters a little bit. They haven’t been here in a while (2008).”

As ludicrous as its shooting was Rogers actually led 2-0 and 4-2 before the Islanders ran off 13 consecutive points. Sophomore Tyseanna Johnson had five points, and Starr added four during the run.

Johnson finished with a double-double (20 points and 14 rebounds) to lead the Islanders. Junior Mariah Adanene added 12 points.

“Our defense was pretty good today,” Starr said. “We still have room for improvement — even on defense.”

ROGERS

DELASALLE