CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah University women's basketball team had five players score in double-figures as they defeated league-leading Oral Roberts University 101-93 in the Centrum Arena Saturday evening.

The Thunderbirds (12-12, 6-7 Summit League) reached the 100-point mark for the first time since scoring 103 points against Southern Methodist in the 1989-90 season. The Thunderbirds shot 50 percent from the field in the game and 85 percent from the free throw line in the second half to hand Oral Roberts (17-8, 13-1 Summit League) its first loss in conference play this season.

"This is a huge win for this program and a big confidence boost for our young team," stated head coach JR Payne who saw her team end a six-game losing skid against ORU. "We were the aggressor in all facets of the game tonight. We came in with a chip on our shoulder after the loss at their place a couple weeks ago and really took it to them. We had great execution, played with more heart and really wanted it more."

Southern Utah was led by freshman guard Desiree Jackson who erupted for a career-high 28 points while senior forward Challis Pascucci scored 20 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds to notch her 11^th double-double of the season. Senior guard Caitlyn Sears added 17 points and seven boards, senior point guard Kaila Goff recorded career-highs of 18 points and 13 assists while freshman guard Andrea Jones added 10 points.

"Dez (Jackson) was great tonight. She got hot early and then worked to open things up for herself in the second half," added Payne. "Tiny (Goff) had a great night and did a great job of distributing. We got a ton of scoring support from Dez, Tiny and Dre (Jones) who did a great job to support our big two in Sears and Pascucci."

The Thunderbirds were off and running early, scoring the games first six points and forcing ORU to call a timeout just 1:58 into the game. Following an Oral Roberts three, Pascucci layed one in, Jackson hit a pair of jumpers as did Sears with one being a three as SUU opened up a 17-6 advantage at the 14:07 mark.

Minutes later, Pascucci added another bucket before Jones knocked down a three. Jackson would add another jumper and Sears hit another three to give the Thunderbirds a 27-10 lead. Through the first nine minutes, SUU had held ORU to 21 percent shooting while they were at a 68 percent mark.

The Golden Eagles slowly began a to chip away at the Southern Utah lead, using a 16-6 run to cut the SUU advantage to 12, 34-26 with 5:59 remaining. Jackson would carry the Thunderbirds for the remainder of the half, scoring nine of SUU's final 12 points to give them a 46-38 lead at the break.

Jackson led all scorers with 18 points and Sears added 14 as the Thunderbirds shot 53 percent and forced nine ORU turnovers. Jordan Pyle led Oral Roberts with 14 points while they shot 34 percent and were 2-13 from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes.

The Thunderbirds scored four straight points to open the second half and later opened up a ten-point, 53-43 lead after Goff was fouled while laying one in.

Oral Roberts quickly answered with an 11-2 run to make it a one-point game, 57-56 at the 14:50 mark. Southern Utah countered with a 7-0 spurt as Goff hits a three to give SUU an eight-point lead but ORU again countered with a 12-2 run to take its first lead of the game, 74-71 with 7:09 remaining. During that run, Oral Roberts point guard Jaci Bigham suffered a leg injury while driving to basket at the 8:53 mark, leaving the Golden Eagles without their third leading scorer for the remainder of the game.

SUU retook the lead for good a couple possessions later as Jackson hit a jumper, Pascucci followed with a rebound putback while getting fouled and hit the free throw. Sears then hit a pair of free throws to cap another 7-0 spurt and five the Thunderbirds a 78-74 lead with 6:13 left on the clock.

Oral Roberts made it a two-point game on the ensuing possession but Southern Utah slowly began to pull away by knocking down free throws. The Thunderbirds connected on 16 of their final 19 trips to the free throw line.

The Golden Eagles had hit a couple shots to keep within striking distance before a Jackson three from the right corner built up a nine-point lead and brought the crowd to its feet with 3:21 remaining.

ORU was forced to foul in the final minutes but SUU continued to knock down free throws, icing the game and reaching the century mark on a pair of free throws by Jones in the final seconds.

The Thunderbirds close out their three-game homestand hosting Centenary College on Monday at 7 p.m. in the Centrum Arena.