ORU Overcomes First Half Deficit To Top Oakland

Oakland held a slim lead at halftime, but the Golden Eagles took advantage of a second-half scoring drought from the Golden Grizzlies in the second half to come away with a 62-53 and notch their sixth conference victory.

In the closing minutes of the first half, Kevi Luper knocked down a jumper to tie the game 28-28, but Oakland's Bethany Watterworth hit a three-pointer just 30 seconds later to give the Golden Grizzlies a slim three-point lead.

However, the offense dried up for Oakland in the second half, and Oral Roberts turned up the scoring.

ORU trailed 34-30 90 seconds into the second half, due to a three-point play from Brittany Carnago, but then didn't score for the next three minutes. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles scored seven unanswered to take a 37-34 lead, their first since the 5:31 mark in the first half.

Elizabeth Hamlet knocked down a jumper on Oakland's next possession to seemingly stop the bleeding, but once again Oral Roberts poured on the buckets. The Golden Eagles scored the next 13 points – seven from Luper and five from Christian Key – to take a 13-point lead with 10 minutes left to play.

Trailing 56-43 six minutes later, the Golden Grizzlies rattled off eight consecutive points, six from the charity stripe, to cut the lead to just five points. But then Oral Roberts came away from a four points on their next two possessions to push the lead up to 60-51, closing the door on a comeback.

Luper once again led things for the Golden Eagles, finishing the game with 19 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Key chipped in with 12 points in just 16 minutes coming off of the bench.

Sharise Calhoun set the pace for Oakland with 14 points, shooting six of 13 from the floor, while dishing out five assists and grabbing four boards.

Oral Roberts will enjoy a short break before their next game, taking on IFPW at 7:05 p.m. Monday at the Mabee Center.