ORU Golden Eagles Fall in Summit League Championship

Originally Published: Mar 9, 2010 7:4 PM CDT

Stephany Speck
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota -- No. 1 seeded Oral Roberts fell 79-75 to South Dakota State in the Summit League Championship game on Tuesday.

It is the second-straight title for SDSU, which automatically qualifies the team a spot in the NCAA tournament.

ORU came back from a 10-point deficit to tie the game at 69 with less than a minute left to play, sending the game into overtime.

The game remained tied up until a layup by Kristen Rotert pushed the Jackrabbits ahead 71-69 with only 2:36 left on the clock.

ORU tried to answer back, but missed two shots before sending SDSU’s Jen Schuttloffel to the charity line, where she hit both free throw attempts.

The Golden Eagles tried to rally after Jaci Bigham hit a layup, but another foul on SDSU put the Jackrabbits ahead by three points.

Bigham once again scored for ORU, but the Golden Eagles fouled Jill Young, who hit both of her free throws and the Jackrabbits led 76-73 with 19 seconds left.

Two free throws by Bigham narrowed SDSU’s led to one, but Ketty Cornemann responded with two free throws, putting her team ahead again by three points.

Rotert earned a steal on the next play and was fouled by ORU. She made one of her two attempts, sealing the fate of the Golden Eagles.

Bigham finished with 28 points, Kevi Luper had 17 and Jordan Pyle added 12 for the Golden Eagles. Janae Voelker finished with 10 points and nine rebounds in her final Summit League game.