ORU Remains Perfect in Summit League

The Golden Eagles shut down South Dakota State's offense late to notch another conference win.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:11 pm

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Feb 7, 2011 10:9 PM CDT

Oklahoma Sports Staff

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Strong second-half defense helped keep the Oral Roberts women’s basketball team unbeaten in conference with an 85-78 win over South Dakota State Monday at the Maybee Center.

The two teams started the second half tied 44-44, but the Golden Eagles came out firing.

ORU managed to double the Jackrabbits’ output in the first six minutes of the second half, putting together a 20-10 run with 14 minutes left in the game. However South Dakota State responded with a 19-9 run to tie the game 73-73 with less than six minutes left to play.

The Golden Eagles put the clamps on for the game’s closing minutes, outscoring the Jackrabbits 12-5 in the closing minutes to secure the victory.

Kevi Luper continued to lead the charge for Oral Roberts, scoring 26 points and racking up three steals in the win. Jordan Pyle contributed 24 points in the win along with six rebounds.

For South Dakota State, both Kristin Rotert and Jill Young scored 24, with Rotert grabbing eight boards. Katie Lingle added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Jackrabbits.

Oral Roberts will try to extend its win streak to 13 games at 6 p.m. Saturday against Southern Utah.