ORU hands Jacks first home league loss

Monday, January 4

Frost Arena

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Oral Roberts

1/4/2010 10:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

Oral Roberts built a 19-point halftime lead and never allowed South Dakota State to gain any meaningful traction, handing the Jackrabbits their first Summit League home loss, 81-72, Monday night at Frost Arena.

Jaci Bigham scored a game-high 34 points and added eight assists for Oral Roberts, which improved to 9-6 overall and 3-1 in The Summit League. SDSU dropped to 7-7 overall and 3-1 in league play.

ORU, which never trailed in the game, came out blazing by connecting on 11 of its first 14 shots from the field as it built an early seven-point point.

SDSU put together a 9-2 run, including back-to-back three-pointers by Jill Young, to tie the game for the final time at 17-all on a three-point play by Jennie Sunnarborg with 14 minutes remaining in the front half.

"We didn't play poorly, but we didn't play well enough to beat a team that's playing well," SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said."That's happened to us a couple of times here this year and today was no different."

The Jackrabbits turned the ball over 14 times in the opening 20 minutes and went nearly six minutes on either side of the halfway point without a field goal as ORU went on a 13-1 run to build a 15-point lead, 35-20. SDSU got back to within 10, 39-29, on a three-pointer by Kristin Rotert, but the Golden Eagles closed the half with 13-4 spurt, capped by a Bigham layup in the closing seconds.

ORU shot 64.5 percent from the field in the first half, 20-of-31, including 7-for-10 from three-point range.

In the second half, every time the Jackrabbits appeared on the verge of making a run, ORU slammed the door shut. More times than not, Bigham was the one doing the damage. A freshman guard, Bigham made 5-of-6 shots in the second half and 13-of-17 for the game, while adding eight assists and eight rebounds.

The Jackrabbits closed the gap with a late 11-2 spurt, but it was too little, too late as SDSU dropped its first Summit League home game in 20 outings since joining the league at the start of the 2007-08 season.

ORU ended the game 31-of-61 from the field, 50.8 percent, including 10-for-23 from long range. At the line, the Golden Eagles made 9-of-10 attempts.

Kevi Luper added 20 points and five steals for ORU, while Jordan Pyle contributed 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds as the Golden Eagles held a 34-32 advantage on the boards.

The Jackrabbits finished 25-of-56 from the floor, 44.6 percent, with a 6-for-18 effort from three-point range. SDSU also went 16-of-24 at the stripe, 66.7 percent.

Maria Boever tied her season high with 21 points, followed by 14 points from Ketty Cornemann and 12 by Young, who canned four three-pointers in the contest. Boever and reserve Ashley Eide each grabbed seven rebounds to lead SDSU.

The Jackrabbits open a three-game Summit League road swing Saturday at Southern Utah. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. Mountain Time (6 p.m. Central) in Cedar City, Utah.

NOTES: SDSU leads the all-time series, 4-2 ... Oral Roberts is the first Summit League team to win two games against the Jackrabbits in league play ... SDSU has lost two home games in the same season for the first time since the 2000-01 campaign - Aaron Johnston's first full season as head coach ... SDSU also had its 17-game regular season Summit League winning streak, with the last loss coming almost a year to the day, Jan. 5, 2009, at Oakland ... Cornemann set a career high with five assists ... Young's four three-pointers are the most by a Jackrabbit player this season ... Boever went 6-of-8 from the field and 9-of-10 at the line for her 21 points ... attendance was 1,465