Golden Eagles Win Summit League Title Outright

Originally Published: Mar 1, 2010 10:10 PM CDT

Gerald Goodridge
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Oral Roberts women’s basketball team closed out the regular season with a 94-70 win over Southern Utah on Monday night. With the victory, the Golden Eagles (21-8, 15-3) clinched the outright Summit League regular season title and the top seed in the conference tournament.

The Thunderbirds jumped out to an early lead, but the first half offense of Jaci Bigham led the Oral Roberts comeback. Bigham finished the half with 15 points, all of them coming from 3-point range.

The freshman finished with 20 and the Golden Eagles went into the locker room with a 45-33 halftime lead.

Kevi Luper was limited to only eight minutes of play in the first half after picking up three early fouls. The freshman standout came alive in the second half, however, scoring 14 in the closing 20 minutes, while dishing out five assists and four steals in the contest.

Despite having an early lead, Southern Utah played poorly for most of the game, shooting 36.5 percent and committing 23 turnovers. The Golden Eagles, meanwhile, tied a school record with 18 3-pointers.

ORU now sets its sights on the Summit League Tournament, which begins this weekend in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.