TULSA, Okla. -

A furious second half rally fell short on Saturday afternoon as Oral Roberts University was tripped by Missouri State University, 85-79, at the Mabee Center. The loss is the first of the season for Jerry Finkbeiner's club.

The preseason Missouri Valley Conference favorites owned the rebounding battle on Saturday, collecting 46 boards to ORU's 31. The Lady Bears (2-2) shot 50.8%, while ORU (5-1) shot at a 46.4% clip.

Christiana Shorter led the Bears with a career-high 27 points, while MVC Preseason Player of the Year Casey Garrison added 22 to go with eight rebounds and seven assists.

Jordan Pyle had her best individual effort of the young season on Saturday, with 20 points and a career-best 11 rebounds. Kevi Luper added 17 points while Georgia Jones got hot down the stretch and scored 16 points on 4-for-7 three-point shooting.

Missouri State could not miss in the early going, launching a 13-2 run in the first half. Shorter scored a pair of baskets during the run, which gave the visitors a 23-13 lead with 12:11 on the clock. The Bears hit eight of their 15 field goal attempts in the game's first seven minutes.

The visitors continued to dominate after the under-12 media timeout, increasing their lead. Shorter scored another pair of baskets as part of an 8-0 run that pushed the score to 31-16 with 8:52 left. Later Garrison drained a three-pointer with 5:57 left to make it 41-22, Missouri State's largest lead of the game.

The Golden Eagle post game came alive late in the half to jumpstart an ORU rally. Bernadett Balla and Pyle each scored twice on an 8-0 run to cut the gap to 41-30 with 3:14 to play.

But the Bears came alive soon after, with Garrison hitting twice as part of an 8-0 MSU run. The visitors would take a 51-35 lead into the halftime break.

ORU could not solve the Missouri State puzzle in the opening stages of the second half. After seeing her team's lead slip to just 14 points, Shorter launched a solo 5-0 run to stretch the gap to 63-44 with 15:40 on the clock.

Luper scored for the first time in nearly 24 minutes at the 13:37 mark of the half, canning a jumper to cut the deficit to 15. She added a three-pointer on the team's next possession, making the score 63-51, and a comeback looked imminent.

The gap closed a bit more in the final two minutes of the game. A three-pointer by Jones with 2:05 left cut the score to 79-73, and the Golden Eagles were in striking distance for the first time in the second half. Later the senior added another long-range shot to slice the gap to 81-76 in the final minutes.

But ORU would never draw even, as the Lady Bears were solid from the free throw line down the stretch. ORU closed the game on a 16-9 run, but the deficit was too big to overcome.

Missouri State's 50.8% shooting clip is the highest of the year by a Golden Eagle opponent. ORU also turned the ball over 20 times, a season high.

Jaci Bigham put in a good distributing effort for ORU, with seven assists to go with her nine points. Luper pitched in with five helpers, while Jones added four.

ORU stays in the city limits but plays away from home on Tuesday as they face the University of Tulsa in the annual Mayor's Cup battle. Tip-off at Reynolds Center is scheduled for 7 pm CT.