ORU Women Cruise past Oakland, 96-74

Oral Roberts forced 26 turnovers in the victory against the Golden Grizzlies.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:07 pm

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Dec 31, 2010 10:28 PM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

In the battle of the Golden mascots, the ORU Golden Eagles prevailed.

Oral Roberts welcomed in the New Year in impressive fashion with a 96-74 victory against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies on Friday night in Tulsa.

The Golden Eagles racked up 21 steals and forced Oakland into 26 total turnovers to improve to 7-7 and 4-0 in Summit League play.

Kevi Luper, the conference's leading scorer, did not disappoint, leading the Golden Eagles with 29 points and also picking up seven boards and five assists.

Forward Jordan Pyle added 14 points and nine boards for ORU, while guard Jaci Bigham had 13 points to go with seven assists and six steals.

The game was surprisingly close for much of the first half, which saw nine lead changes and five ties.

The Golden Grizzlies actually led as late as the 6:42 point of the first half before ORU closed out the half with a 23-8 run. Oakland had 19 first-half turnovers.

ORU will host Northeastern Oklahoma State next on January 3 at 7:05 p.m.