TU Women's Basketball Falls To ORU In PSO Mayor's Cup

Ashley Clark had a double-double, while Kadan Brady and Mariah Turner both had double-digit points, but Tulsa dropped a 73-71 decision to Oral Roberts in the annual Mayor's Cup on Friday night at the Mabee Center on the ORU campus. Tulsa fell to 1-2 on the season, while ORU moved to 1-2 overall.

Turner had a team-best 22 points, while Clark and Brady each scored 14. Clark also added 10 rebounds five assists and four blocks, and Kelsee Grovey had five assists and three steals.

Tulsa shot 38-percent on the night, including 50-percent from three-point range, and 85-percent from the free throw line. TU held the lead for 21:19 of the game, while ORU had the advantage for 10:49.

After trailing by two (38-36) at the half, Tulsa came out and tied the game five times, including at 46-all with 14:30 on the clock, before going on a 15-4 run to take a game-best 11-point advantage (61-50) at the 8:47 mark.

The Golden Eagles put together their own run, outscoring TU, 17-4, from the 8:31 mark to just 2:13 on the clock to take a 67-65 lead. TU tied it up at 67-67 at the 1:24 mark, but ORU took back the lead with just under a minute to play and held on for the two-point win.

“The number 65 was just glaring at me, we just couldn't get past it,” Head Coach Matilda Mossman said. “We were trying to rest a couple people, some baskets were scored against us and by time we could get our players back in they had the momentum and we couldn't stop them. I thought our team played terrific, but I thought Oral Roberts had some kids that stepped up when their top two scorers weren't scoring.”

ORU was led by Bernadett Balla with 19 points, Atoe' Jackson with 14 points and Dorottya Balla with 11 points. Vicky McIntyre picked up 15 rebounds and nine blocks, and Jordan Gilbert had six assists.

Oral Roberts had a 41-32 lead in rebounds and a 9-4 advantage in blocks, while TU had a 14-10 lead in assists and an 11-5 advantage in steals.

There were eight lead changes and four tied scores in the first 20 minutes, but ORU had a 38-36 advantage at the break. Brady hit four three-pointers, including three-straight to start the scoring for Tulsa. Turner was also in double-figures in the first frame with 10 points, while Clark had eight points and five rebounds.

TU shot 44.8-percent from the field, including an outstanding 80-percent from three-point range and was 6-of-6 from the charity stripe in the first half.

Tulsa will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 25 against Texas Southern. Game time is set for 2:30 pm in Houston, Texas.