Oral Roberts Women Fall At McNeese State

McNeese State University used a 19-4 run midway through the game to take down Oral Roberts University, 76-71, on Thursday night at Burton Coliseum.

The setback drops ORU to 14-12, 11-5 in Southland Conference play, and out of the top spot in the SLC standings. The Golden Eagles now trail both Sam Houston State and Lamar, who are 11-4 in conference play.

Kevi Luper led ORU with 24 points in the loss. Luper was 10-for-20 from the floor and added nine rebounds along with a career-high four blocked shots. Sarah Shelton added 17 points and 10 boards, while Taylor Cooper collected 14 points.

McNeese (15-11, 10-5 SLC) was led by Ashlyn Baggett, who hit 5-of-9 three-point attempts and scored 26 points. Sister Caitlyn Baggett added 17 points.

As a team, McNeese was 8-for-21 from 3-point range for the game.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair that featured two ties and 15 lead changes. The Golden Eagles took a five-point lead at the 3:19 mark, when Luper canned a 3-pointer to make the score 29-24.

But McNeese followed with nine straight points to take a 33-29 lead on an Ashlyn Baggett 3-pointer.

Luper led all scorers with 12 points at the break, while Ashlyn Baggett led the Cowgirls with 11.

McNeese State came out of the halftime locker room on fire, spelling doom for the Golden Eagles. The Cowgirls scored the first six points of the half, capped by the lone Arianna James bucket of the night, to build a 39-31 lead with 18:20 left.

The lead hit double-figures for McNeese moments later, when two Ashlyn Baggett free throws gave the home side their biggest bulge, at 43:33, with 16:04 left.

ORU would rally, but could never get over the hump and reclaim the lead. The closest Misti Cussen's team would get came with 9:36 left, when Cooper supplied a spot-up jumper to cut the gap to 54-53.

Cooper again cut the deficit to a single point at the 5:52 mark on a long-range three-pointer, making the score 62-61. But the Cowgirls put the game away by scoring the next seven points, boosting their advantage to 69-61 at the 3:59 mark.

Helping McNeese greatly was their ability to take care of the basketball. The Cowgirls turned the ball over just five times and forced ORU into 15 giveaways.

The Golden Eagles continue their road swing and look to retake the Southland lead on Saturday, March 2 when they face Lamar. Game time in Beaumont, Texas is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT.