Southern Utah Falls in Road Contest at Idaho State

Women's Basketball 2/26/2012 2:00:00 AM SUU Strategic Communication

Southern Utah Falls to Oral Roberts in Final Summit League Game

CEDAR CITY, Utah -2/25/12- Southern Utah led visiting Oral Roberts by 11 points halfway through its season finale, but was outscored 32-14 by the Golden Eagles in the second half to fall by a final score of 54-47 Saturday night.

The Thunderbirds jumped out to an early 8-5 advantage in the game behind a pair of scores from junior forward Kimie Hawkins. The Golden Eagles answered with a 6-0 run to take a three-point lead. A lay-up by Angel Dorn pulled SUU within one and two teams then traded baskets until an ORU basket tied the score at 20-20 with five-and-a-half minutes remaining in the period.

The next three-minutes saw Carli Moreland score six points as part of an 8-0 run that put Southern Utah out in front 28-20. In total the T-Birds outscored Oral Roberts 13-2 in the final minutes of the half to take a 33-22 edge into the locker room.

Moreland led all scorers with 14 first half points. Hawkins and Anderson each added seven points before the break. ORU got seven from both Georgia Jones and Bernadett Balla in the opening period. SUU held a 32-19 advantage on the boards early on and held the Golden Eagles to just 7-32 shooting to start the game.

Oral Roberts held Southern Utah without a basket during the first five minutes of the second half during a 5-0 run that helped the visitors cut the deficit to six at 33-27. A pair of SUU free throws by Hawkins finally snapped the streak, but the Golden Eagles went on to level the score at 38-38 on a Jaci Bigham layup with just over eight minutes left to play.

ORU outscored the T-Birds 7-2 over the next five minutes to go up by a count of 45-40. Southern Utah battled back and after a three pointer by Andrea Jones trailed by just four with 37 seconds left to play but the Golden Eagles held on for a 54-47 victory.

Moreland added just one basket in the second half for 16 total points in the game. The sophomore forward also had nine rebounds, finishing just one shy of a double double. Hawkins also pulled down nine boards to go along with nine points. Four of the five Oral Roberts starters finished in the double figures, including Georgia Jones with 14 points, Jordan Pyle with 10 as well as Bigham and Balla who both had 11.

“Carli was tremendous in the first half,” said SUU head coach JR Payne. “Then in the second we had a hard time getting her the ball and were turning the ball over before we could get it inside.”

The Thunderbirds held a 51-40 advantage on the boards, but shot the ball just 15.4 percent in the second half, dropping its shooting mark to 26.7 percent for the game.

ORU improves to 14-4 and will enter the conference tournament as the second seed next week. Southern Utah finishes the year 6-23 with a 2-16 record in its final season as a member of the Summit League. The T-Birds now prepare to enter the Big Sky Conference next season.

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Players Mentioned

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

#34 Kimie Hawkins: F; 5' 11"; Junior

#5 Andrea Jones: G; 5' 5"; Sophomore

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

Players Mentioned

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

#34 Kimie Hawkins
: 5' 11"; Junior
: F

#5 Andrea Jones
: 5' 5"; Sophomore
: G

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