Tulsa, Okla. �€" Maureen
Obudho scored 12 points, including a layup with 29 seconds
remaining, to help Oral Roberts hold off Southern Utah, 67-66, on
Senior Day at the Mabee Center Saturday afternoon.
ORU (14-12,
8-7) pulled into a tie for fifth in the Mid-Continent Conference
standings with Southern Utah (17-9, 8-7) after completing a
regular-season sweep of the Thunderbirds.
ORU freshman
Elisha Turek helped stake the Golden Eagles to a 35-30 lead at the
half, as she scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds over the
first 20 minutes of play. Turek finished the game with team-highs
of 17 points and 10 rebounds.
SUU drilled 10
3-pointers, including six in the second half to make things
interesting late. The T-Birds never led in the second stanza, but
rallied back from a 59-51 deficit to cut ORU's lead to only two
twice in the final two-plus minutes.
Casey Cooke,
who made 4-of-6 from behind the 3-point line and finished with 16
points, started the visitors' rally with a 3-pointer with 5:09 to
play, cutting ORU's lead to 59-54.
Sarah Hutton,
who led SUU with 18 points and seven rebounds, later trimmed the
Golden Eagles' lead to just 65-63 after a pair of free throws with
1:05 to play.
ORU's Leah
Cannon, who added 16 points and six assists, missed a driving shot
with 36 seconds to play. However, Claudia Louis (9 points, 7
rebounds, 6 assists) grabbed the offensive rebound and found Obudho
underneath the basket for what proved to be the game-winning
points. The field goal was Obudho's only one of the day, but she
finished 10-of-10 from the free throw line and also pulled down
eight rebounds.
Cooke buried a
3-pointer for SUU with less than one-tenth of a second to go for
the final margin.
The game was
ORU's final home appearance of the season, and the final home game
for lone senior Cori Williston. Williston, who missed much of the
year with severe leg injury, had two assists and two rebounds in 11
minutes of action.
ORU returns to
action Monday, when the Golden Eagles close out the regular season
at Centenary.
--ORU--
