Oral Roberts women slam Sam Houston State 90-40
BY MIKE MOGUIN World Correspondent
Friday, February 15, 2013
2/15/13 at 5:56 AM
Jaci Bigham led a quintet of double-digit scorers for Oral Roberts as the Golden Eagles rolled to a 90-40 victory against Southland Conference leader Sam Houston State at the Mabee Center.
Bigham scored 17 points, freshman Taylor Cooper put up 16, Christian Key finished with 15, Kevi Luper got in 13 and Savanna Buck logged 11.
Sarah Shelton led in rebounding with 10 boards.
The Golden Eagles (12-11 overall, 9-4 Southland Conference) limited Sam Houston State to 19 percent shooting in the first half and 20 percent for the game.
"I think our starters set the tone tonight," ORU coach Misti Cussen said. "Our starters set the tone defensively. We're a much better team than we were a month ago."
The Bearkats (13-11, 9-3) were a 54-47 victor when the two teams met back on Jan. 19, but Thursday's game hardly resembled that, much less a battle of teams fighting for a conference championship.
ORU's defensive pressure forced Bearkat shooters into missed shots while the offense surged.
"We are peaking at the right time," Cussen said.
ORU shot 44 percent (30-of-69) in field goals, 43 percent (9-of-21) in 3s and hit 81 percent of free throws.
Sam Houston State shot 13 percent (2-of-15) in 3s and made 78 percent (18-of-23) of its free throws.
After the Bearkats scored the first five points, ORU went on a 14-1 run to go up 15-6 with 9:50 left in the first half.
Key increased the Golden Eagle lead to 22-10 when she nailed a 3-point basket near the right corner with 8:29 to go in the first half.
Free throws accounted for most of the points for both teams in the late stretch of the first half, but Cooper drilled a trey right before halftime.
As the second half got under way, ORU kept rolling.
Just like she did at the close of the first half, Cooper led off the second half with another 3-pointer after taking a pass from Bigham.
Four 3s - a pair from Luper bookended by two from Bigham - increased the ORU advantage to 61-27 at the 12:34 mark.
Sam Houston State did not get its 40th point until Jasmin Anderson got a free throw with eight seconds left.
Original Print Headline: ORU women slam Sam Houston St.
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