ORU Women Fall At Corpus Christi

Oral Roberts University's problems away from home continued on Saturday afternoon as they fell to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 61-53, at the American Bank Center. The Golden Eagles (7-16, 6-7 Southland Conference) have not won on the road in 13 tries this season.

The win, coupled with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's 58-53 victory on January 4 at the Mabee Center, gives the Islanders a regular season sweep over ORU.

The bright spot for ORU was junior Atoe' Jackson, who set career highs with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Christian Key added 15 points while Bernadett Balla also set a personal best with 13 boards.

Brittany Mbamalu led the Islanders (14-11, 7-7 Southland Conference) with 18 points on six three-point field goals. The home team hit 10 three-pointers on the afternoon.

Corpus Christi's Jasmine Shaw had a double-double of her own, with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The loss is a significant blow to ORU's Southland Conference Tournament chances. At 6-7 in the league, ORU once again sits outside of the league's top eight with five games to play.

ORU got off to a 9-3 lead before quickly succumbing to a 14-0 Islanders run. A three-point play by Ashanti Plummer gave the home team a 17-9 lead with 13:01 left in the half.

After maintaining a two-possession lead for much of the half, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi extended the advantage to double-digits late in the period. Mbamalu canned her fourth three-pointer of the half at the 4:35 mark, giving the Islanders a 28-17 lead.

ORU tallied just one basket in the final nine minutes of the 1st half and none in the final 6:26. The Golden Eagles shot 26.9% from the floor and trailed at the break, 33-17.

The Golden Eagle offense was far more efficient in the 2nd half, but they struggled to make a significant dent in the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi lead. After falling behind by 21 points, ORU was back to single-digits, at 52-44, on a Jackson bucket with 6:37 to play.

But the Golden Eagles hit just four field goals in the final six minutes, and eight points was as close as they could get.

ORU outscored the home team in the 2nd half, 36-28, and they shot 51.7% after halftime, but a 21-point deficit was too much to overcome.