Annapolis, MD-Harvard University was able to fend-off a second-half Oral Roberts rally, holding on to an 84-76 decision over the Golden Eagles in game one of the Navy Classic.

Jaci Bigham led the way for ORU with 20 points on 5-10 shooting.

ORU got out of the gates quickly, jumping ahead 8-2 on a Georgia Jones three-ball with 17:11 on the clock.

Harvard managed to claw to within one point (9-10) by the 13 minute mark, before Victoria Lippert banked in a tough three to give the Crimson a 12-10 advantage.

The ORU offense fell into a cold spell for the remainder of the half, trailing 28-40 at intermission following an icy 30% shooting display from the field, including a 10% clip from beyond the arc.

Coming out of the break, an efficient Harvard offense shot 5-7 in the first three minutes and ran the margin up to as many as 20.

Just when it looked like the Crimson would run away with it, a Jordan Pyle three ignited a 9-0 ORU rally that cut the deficit back to single digits (59-50).

The Golden Eagles managed to keep it interesting for the remainder of the game, but nearly every ORU bucket was matched by a high-percentage Harvard layup down the stretch.

Pyle added 16 points and six rebounds for ORU, while Kevi Luper tacked on 18 points and four boards.

The Golden Eagles found themselves on the wrong end of a 42-30 rebounding disparity, with Harvard cashing in on 13 second chance buckets and holding a 44-34 points in the paint advantage.

With the loss, ORU falls to 2-2 on the season and Harvard moves to a perfect 2-0.

ORU takes the floor once again for the final contest at Navy, as they square-off against the Villanova Wildcats at 10:00 a.m. (CT)

-ORU-