THE BASICS
Score: Oral Roberts 54 – Kansas City 65
Records: ORU (5-11, 2-3); Kansas City (5-11, 1-4)
Location: Swinney Center – Kansas City, Mo.

Kansas City, Mo. – The Oral Roberts women's basketball team fell on the road, 65-54, Saturday afternoon to Summit League foe Kansas City inside the Swinney Center.
 
ORU scored six of the first eight points of the contest to take a 6-2 advantage at the first media stoppage at the 4:55 mark. Out of the timeout, Kansas City closed the quarter on an 8-2 run to take a 10-8 lead into the second. Scoring was hard to come by in the opening period as the two sides combined to shoot 22.2 percent from the field.
 
After the Roos took an 18-15 advantage into the under-five media timeout, the Golden Eagles answered with a 9-0 stretch to take their largest lead of the contest, 24-18, at the 2:10 mark. Makenna Winans jumpstarted the run with a putback and Lauren Ramey capped it off with a layup. Kansas City responded with eight of the final nine points of the half, trimming ORU's lead to one, 26-25, at the break.
 
An Ariel Walker three followed by a Winans jumper extended the ORU advantage to 31-25 in the opening 1:16 of the second half. The Roos responded with a 16-3 stretch that spanned 3:46 to regain the lead, 41-34, with 4:37 left in the quarter. Following a pair of makes at the line by Ruthie Udoumoh, the Golden Eagles cut the deficit to three, 46-43, with 1:10 remaining in the period. Kansas City answered with the final four points of the quarter to take a 50-43 lead into the fourth.
 
The Roos run expanded to an 8-0 following back-to-back baskets to open the fourth as their lead grew to 11, 54-43, at the 8:13 mark. Five straight points from ORU trimmed the deficit to six, 54-48, with 7:06 left in the contest. That was as close as the Golden Eagles could get though as Kansas City held them at arm's length the rest of the way as they went on to win, 65-54.

THE LEADERS
Oral Roberts: Hannah Cooper and Udoumoh were the lone players to reach double-figures for ORU as the two finished with 12 points each. 

Kansas City: Rain Green led all scorers with 20 points on 6-of-14 shooting, while Manna Mensah finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double. 
                                                                                                                                                 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- ORU struggled from the field as they shot 28.2 percent and 16.7 percent from three.
- Cooper, Nena Taylor, Udoumoh and Walker each pulled down a team-best six rebounds.
- Defensively, ORU totaled 12 steals led by four each from Cooper and Walker.
- The Golden Eagles were outrebounded, 49-41.
- ORU totaled a season-best 20 offensive rebounds and registered 19 second-chance points.
- Cooper dished out a team-best four assists on the afternoon.
- Off the bench, Ramey contributed with six points.

GAME NOTES
- Saturday's contest marked the 55th all-time between the two programs.
- Despite the loss, the Golden Eagles still lead the all-time series, 33-22.
- Cooper reached double-digits for the 11th straight contest and 15th time this season.
- Udoumoh totaled double-figures for the eighth time this season and third straight game.
- ORU's 20 offensive rebounds were the program's most since the 2020 season.

Up Next
The Golden Eagles remain on the road as they travel to face Western Illinois Thursday, January 12 at 6 p.m.

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.