ORU Women Fall Again, Finish Season 0-15 In Road Games

Oral Roberts University ended the regular season on a low note as they fell to Northwestern State, 71-49, on Saturday at Prather Coliseum. Despite the loss, ORU (9-19, 8-10 Southland Conference) is headed to next week's Southland Conference Tournament as the No. 8 seed.

The loss drops ORU to 0-15 on the road this season. The winless road campaign is the first for the Golden Eagle program since 1995-96.

Christian Key led the Golden Eagles with 12 points in her final regular season game, while Bernadett Balla added 10. ORU shot 41.2% and made 20 turnovers.

Northwestern State (18-12, 11-7 Southland Conference was paced by 18 points from Keisha Lee. The Lady Demons shot a blistering 47.2% from the floor and made seven three-pointers.

ORU got off to a great start behind Balla. The junior scored three baskets as part of an 8-2 run that gave the Golden Eagles a 17-12 lead eight minutes into the game.

But the Golden Eagles did not score for the next five minutes, and the lead slipped away. A Janelle Perez three-pointer capped Northwestern's 10-0 run and gave the home side a 22-17 lead with 7:18 left in the half.

Key picked up her third foul with 3:08 left in the half, but ORU managed to stay close. The Lady Demons took a 33-27 lead into the locker room.

The Golden Eagles shot 44.4% in the opening half, but they turned the ball over 11 times. Balla led the way with eight points.

Needing a good start to the second half, ORU instead went in the opposite direction. The Lady Demons opened the half on a 12-2 run, taking a 45-29 lead on Kourtney Pennywell's basket with 15:06 remaining.

The Demon lead hit 20 points with 11:36 remaining, as Emily Spector canned a jumper to make it 57-37. Though ORU fought hard for the remainder of the game, the deficit was never again in single digits.