Oral Roberts University

THE BASICS
Score: Oral Roberts 84 – UNLV 100
Records: ORU (0-2); UNLV (2-0)
Location: Cox Pavilion – Las Vegas, Nev.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Despite a career-high 39 points from Hannah Cooper, the Oral Roberts women's basketball team fell on the road Friday evening to UNLV, 100-84, inside Cox Pavilion.

Cooper poured in 39 points on 12-of-19 shooting and added 13 makes from the foul line on 15 attempts. The senior also registered a game-high tying four steals, dished out three assists and pulled down three rebounds.

Ruthie Udoumoh and Sara Rodrigues joined Cooper as the only other Golden Eagles in double figures, finishing with 13 and 12, respectively. Udoumoh also totaled a team-best five assists on the night.

In a fast-paced opening five minutes, the two sides were even on the scoreboard, 13-13, at the first media timeout. During the stretch, Cooper totaled nine of ORU's 13 points. Out of the stoppage, the Lady Rebels opened an eight-point lead, 23-15, behind a 12-2 run. A Cooper jumper broke the run at the 1:13 mark and Rodrigues netted the final basket of the quarter as UNLV took a 25-19 advantage into the second.

A split at the foul line by Talia Pogi followed by a pair of makes from Cooper trimmed the deficit to five, 27-22, with 8:30 left in the second period. The two sides traded the next 12 points before a fastbreak layup from Lauren Ramey cut the UNLV lead to three, 33-30, with 4:52 remaining in the half. A 5-0 run was the response by the Lady Rebels as their lead extended back to eight, 40-32, at the 2:23 mark. UNLV outscored ORU 11-10 over the final two minutes as they led 51-42 at the break.

A 5-0 run by Cooper drew ORU to within five, 51-46, just 1:15 into the second half. The Lady Rebels stopped the surge with a three-pointer, sparking an 8-2 run as their lead grew back to 11, 59-48, at the 7:16 mark. Udoumoh put an end to the stretch with a jumper with 7:01 showing on the clock before both sides went scoreless for the next two minutes. UNLV bumped their lead to 13, 66-55, with 2:55 remaining, courtesy of a 5-0 surge and later headed to the fourth period with a 72-59 advantage.

Following a layup from Rodrigues to open the fourth, the Lady Rebels scored the next five points to push their lead to 16, 77-61, as 9:02 remained in the contest. With 5:27 showing on the clock, UNLV took their largest lead of the contest, 88-70, following a three from Alyssa Brown.

After Udoumoh drew a shooting foul underneath the basket at the 2:45 mark, a technical foul was assessed to the Lady Rebels. Following the two makes from Udoumoh, Cooper netted the technical free throws as ORU cut the deficit to 10, 92-82. Fourteen seconds later, the Lady Rebels head coach was assessed a technical foul, leading to another pair of free throw makes from Cooper. The eight-point deficit was as close as the Golden Eagles would get as UNLV closed the game on an 8-0 run as they went on to win 100-84.

THE LEADERS
Oral Roberts: Cooper netted a career-high 39 points and went 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. Tirzah Moore pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds.

UNLV:  Nneka Obiazor topped the Lady Rebels with 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting. Desi-Rae Young and Essence Booker joined Obiazor in double figures with 19 and 14, respectively.
                                                                                                                                                  
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- As a team, the Golden Eagles shot 44.3 percent from the field and 82.6 percent from the charity stripe.
- On the night, 48 of ORU's 84 points came inside the paint.
- The Golden Eagles totaled 22 points off of 20 UNLV turnovers.
- Cooper totaled 25 of her 39 points in the first half.
- Udoumoh's five assists were a career-high.
- Off the bench, Makenna Winans contributed with five rebounds.

GAME NOTES
- The Golden Eagles are now 0-3 all-time against UNLV.
- Cooper's 39 points were the most by a Golden Eagle since Keni Jo Lippe scored 30 against Kansas City on January 24, 2021.
- ORU's 178 points in the first two contests are their most since the 2010-11 season (230). 

Up Next
The Golden Eagles close out their three-game road trip Monday evening against Oklahoma State at 6:30 p.m. in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

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 new ORU Athletics app in the Google Play or App stores.