T-Bird Forward Earns Summit League Award

Women's Basketball 12/3/2011 11:26:00 PM SUU Strategic Communication

Southern Utah Drops Road Contest at Oral Roberts

TULSA, Okla. Dec. 3 – Oral Roberts turned in its best offensive performance of the season Saturday on its way to a 109-59 victory over Southern Utah. The Golden Eagles shot over 50% from the field and made 10 three-pointers to pull away from visiting SUU.

The Thunderbirds opened the game looking to work the ball inside and were able to find Carli Moreland down low for the team's first seven points of the game. The sophomore forward scored on a jumper and made three trips to the free throw line where she went 5-6 to help Southern Utah to a 7-6 advantage early on. Following a three-pointer by DJ Norman and a jumper by Angel Dorn the teams found themselves tied at 12 just over six minutes into the ball game.

Oral Roberts would then score 15 unanswered over the next four minutes to build a 27-12 advantage. Jaci Bigham helped spark the Golden Eagles run with two threes during the stretch, while teammate Georgia Jones also sank a jumper from the outside. The T-Birds quickly battled back to narrow the deficit to 29-17, but the Eagles would answer with an 8-0 run to stretch their advantage to 20. The two sides then traded baskets over the final five minutes of the period until entering the locker room with the score at 48-29 in favor of ORU.

Freshman point guard Hailey Mandelko would find some offensive rhythm in the second half, scoring eight points, including hitting two shots from beyond the arc, to help the Thunderbird offense shoot 43.5% from the floor in the period. Oral Roberts continued to shoot the ball well throughout the game however and ultimately pulled away for the 109-59 victory.

Two-time All-Summit League Player of the Year Kevi Luper led all scorers with 31 to help her team to its highest offensive output of the season. ORU would also get 13 from Bigham while Jordan Pyle and Amber Carver each finished with 10.

The Thunderbirds were led by Moreland who set a new career mark with eight free throws on her way to 14 total points. The sophomore forward also recorded her third double double of the season as she pulled down 10 rebounds. Mandelko finished with 13 in the game, nine of which came on threes, while Torey Hill came off the bench for a career high eight points on 4-6 shooting.

With the loss SUU starts the year 0-1 in the Summit League and drops to 2-5 overall. Oral Roberts improves its record to 6-2 with a 1-0 mark in conference play.

Southern Utah will return to Utah next week for two in-state matchups on the road. The T-Birds will visit BYU on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. prior to a rematch with Utah Valley on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Angel Dorn: G; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#22 Torey Hill: F/C; 6' 2"; Redshirt Freshman

#23 Hailey Mandelko: G; 5' 8"; Freshman

#15 Carli Moreland: F; 6' 1"; Sophomore

#10 DJ Norman: G; 5' 9"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#4 Angel Dorn
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: G

#22 Torey Hill
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Freshman
: F/C

#23 Hailey Mandelko
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: G

#15 Carli Moreland
: 6' 1"; Sophomore
: F

#10 DJ Norman
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: G