CEDAR CITY, Utah - Feb. 23 - Southern Utah freshman Cassie Platt banked
in a 3-point shot with 15 seconds to play in overtime, but ORU's
Mariana Camargo went coast-to-coast and put in a reverse layup to steal
a win in the Centrum Arena on Monday night as the Thunderbirds fell
74-76 to Oral Roberts in the extra period. SUU dropped to 9-18 with the loss and 5-11
in conference play, putting the team in the ninth spot in conference
and dangerously out of a conference tournament berth. ORU moved to
13-17 on the year and 6-10 in The Summit League.
Neither team built much of a lead over the first 20 minutes of the game as the score was tied on four occasions and switching hands on another three. The Thunderbirds scored the first basket of the game as Dani Hosking drained a jumper on an assist from Kaila Goff. It wasn't until late in the half with the score 26-25 for Oral Roberts that the Golden Eagles made the first big move of the game, closing out the first half on a 7-0 run to take a 33-25 advantage into the locker rooms.
ORU's lead grew to as much as 15 coming out of the break as Janae Voelker hit a 3-point basket to give the Golden Eagles a 49-34 lead with 13:50 on the clock. However, it was then that the Thunderbirds began to methodically chip away at the visiting team's lead, tying the game at 56-56 on a fast break layup by Kaila Goff as she picked ORU's Jordan Pyle's pocket and raced down the floor at the 5:18 mark.
Southern Utah took its first lead of the second half minutes later as Challis Pascucci scored on an assist from Goff, giving the T-Birds a 60-59 lead with 3:12 on the clock. Back-to-back free throws by Pascucci gave SUU a 62-59 advantage with 2:16 to play, but two missed shots and two turnovers by the Thunderbirds down the stretch was answered with a 3-point basket by ORU's Amy Pryor with 15 seconds on the clock, sending the game into overtime with a deadlocked score of 62-62.
The Golden Eagles came to the tip-off in the extra period with five-foot-four Pryor, but still got the ball on the tip as Pascucci's flip was directed at a cutting Voelker. ORU took advantage, scoring the first basket and held onto the narrowest of leads until Pascucci, once again, delivered on free throws to give SUU a 69-68 lead with 1:46 to play.
A long range bucket by Georgia Jones and a free throw by Camargo gave Oral Roberts a three-point advantage with 45 seconds to play. Pascucci's layup nine seconds later cut the lead to one, but back-to-back free throws by Voelker put the Golden Eagles back up three.
With the team in desperate need of a long-range jumper, Platt delivered as her straight-away bomb banked in with 15 seconds to play, but ORU's Camargo raced down the court to score the reverse layup on the ensuing possession. Goff's last-second 3-point shot didn't fall as the horn sounded with the T-Birds on the wrong end of the 76-74 decision.
Higbee led all scorers with 20 and finished her senior night with 12 rebounds, marking her eighth double-double of the year. Pascucci also recorded a double-double with a career-high 19 points and a season-high 13 rebounds. Platt was the final double-digit scorer for the T-Birds with 11 points while ORU had four in double digits, led by Pryor with 19, Voelker (18), Camargo (15) and Jordan Pyle with ten points and 11 rebounds.
Southern Utah will now have to secure a win at IPFW on Saturday and hope for a Mastodon loss on Monday night to slip into a tournament berth. Tip-off for the Thunderbirds in Fort Wayne on Saturday is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. SUU will then wrap up the regular season at Oakland on Monday night.
