THE BASICS

Score: No. 4 Oral Roberts 74 – No. 5 Western Illinois 66

Records: ORU (15-15) (9-7); WIU (15-15) (9-7)

Location: Denny Sanford PREMIER Center – Sioux Falls, S.D.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Montserrat Brotons and Keni Jo Lippe each recorded double-doubles as the No. 4 Oral Roberts women's basketball team defeated No. 5 Western Illinois, 74-66, Sunday afternoon to advance to the Summit League Championship semifinal round in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The game started with a three-plus minute scoring drought by both teams before Rachel Skalnik scored the first points of the game for ORU. After slow starts for both teams, the No. 5 seed Leathernecks led, 14-12, at the end of the first quarter. The Golden Eagles shot 31 percent in the opening 10 minutes and both teams made five field-goals with the separation being two free-throws for WIU.

Montserrat Brotons tied the game to start the second. The Golden Eagles broke a two-plus minute scoring drought with 2:25 left when Rylie Torrey hit her second three-point shot of the game. The long-shot put ORU up, 30-28. The Golden Eagles ended the half on a 10-0 run to take a 37-28 lead in to the locker room. ORU shot 46 percent in the first half with Brotons and Keni Jo Lippe leading the team with eight points and six rebounds apiece. The Golden Eagles out-scored the Leathernecks, 25-14, in the second.

The Leathernecks cut the ORU lead down to five before the Golden Eagles went up by 12 with 5:50 left in the third. Back-to-back three-point shots by Torrey and Sarah Garvie sparked a 6-0 run. WIU came back to within four during a three-plus minute scoring drought for ORU. Lippe broke the drought on back-to-back jumpers to retake an eight point lead. The Golden Eagles held a 54-47 lead at the end of the third, despite being out-scored, 19-17 in the quarter. ORU maintained a 42 percent shooting average.

ORU went up by 15 with six minutes to go in the fourth when Garvie scored her third three-point shot of the game. The Golden Eagles went up by 17 before WIU cut it to 10 with three minutes to go. The Leathernecks cut it to six with 37 seconds left until Brotons hit two free-throws to go up by eight. Western Illinois made it a six point deficit with 22 seconds to play and Lippe made it an eight point game with free-throws to win, 74-66. ORU shot 43 percent in the game as four Golden Eagles scored in double-figures.

THE LEADERS

Oral Roberts: Lippe recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Western Illinois: Olivia Kaufmann scored 23 points and Evan Zars had 13 boards.                                                                                                                                              

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

- ORU shot 42.9 percent overall in tonight's game.

- ORU out-rebounded WIU, 44-34.

- The Golden Eagles had a 39.1 percent three-point average.

- ORU turned the ball over 16 times, but forced the Leathernecks to turn the ball over 12 times.
- Sarah Garvie recorded 11 points with three assists.

- Rylie Torrey went 4-for-8 from the three-point line with 14 points and four rebounds.

- Montserrat Brotons captured her fourth double-double of the season with 16 points along with 10 rebounds.
- Keni Jo Lippe finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals.

- ORU had 18 bench points in tonight's game and 28 points in the paint.

- Golden Eagles capitalized with eight points off of turnovers.

Up Next

ORU will play No. 1 South Dakota in the semifinal round of the Summit League Championship Monday, March 9 at 12 p.m. at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

For the latest information on ORU women's basketball, follow @ORUWBB on Twitter or go to www.ORUAthletics.com.  Fans can also receive updates on the team by downloading the Golden Eagles Front Row App at ORUAthletics.com/frontrow or in the App Store. 

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