CEDAR CITY, Utah - March 1 - Southern Utah played with greater intensity than the first meeting of the season, but 3-point shooting made all the difference for Oral Roberts as the Thunderbirds suffered a 94-70 defeat to the Golden Eagles on Monday night. ORU shot 18-of-36 from long range to improve to 21-8 and 15-3 in conference while SUU dropped to 7-22 and 5-13 in Summit League play with the loss.
"We came out a lot better tonight and I thought we did a great job running our offense," head coach JR Payne said. "We were able to break their zone early, but their 3-point shooting was just unstoppable tonight. We need to do a better job of closing out on shooters and we're excited to get another shot against them on Saturday."
Southern Utah began the game with the opening basket as Caitlyn Sears broke the Oral Roberts "buzz" defense 20 seconds into the contest. A pair of free throws by Chanel Thorley and another jumper by Sears gave the Thunderbirds a 6-0 lead before Oral Roberts even got on the board.
Kevi Luper hit the first of 12 first-half, 3-point baskets for ORU seconds later to cut the lead to three, but Southern Utah continued to lead through the 7:03 mark. It was then that Oral Roberts closed out the half with eight consecutive 3-point shots to take a 45-33 lead into halftime.
The scoring margin remained in double digits throughout the second half as Southern Utah brought the deficit back to 12 six times over the first eight minutes of the final half. However, the Thunderbirds were not able to get any closer as home baskets seemed to be answered each time on the other end by ORU. A final 3-point shot by Jadie Parsons with nine seconds to play marked the final points of the contest as ORU claimed the 94-70 victory.
Sears led all scorers with her second consecutive 20-point game, finishing with 23 points and adding seven rebounds, two assists and one steal in 35 minutes. Challis Pascucci recorded her league-leading 13th double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds as the pair were the only players to score in double digits for the Thunderbirds.
Oral Roberts was led by Jaci Bingham with 20 points, shooting a team-best 6-of-9 from deep, followed by Kevi Luper (18), Noelia Quintas (13) and Janae Voelker with 12.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday in the first round of the Summit League Women's Basketball Championship. Tip-off for that game in Sioux Falls, S.D. is scheduled for Noon (CT).
