From ORU Sports Information
WACO, Texas – Oral Roberts University fought hard but suffered a loss on Wednesday night as they were topped by No. 3/3 Baylor, 94-56, in front of 7,767 fans at the Ferrell Center. With the loss, ORU falls to 3-4 on the season.
Senior Kevi Luper led the Golden Eagles with 19 points, while freshman Taylor Cooper caught fire from three-point range and added 16. Sarah Shelton held her own on the low block, finishing with 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
The defending NCAA Division I National Champions, Baylor (8-1) flexed their muscles on Wednesday night. The Bears shot 56.3% from the floor and outrebounded the Golden Eagles, 44-29.
Odyssey Sims led the Bears with 27 points, while reigning consensus national player of the year Brittney Griner tallied 22 points and 10 rebounds.
The home team sprinted out to a sizable lead, going up 31-9 at the 12:12 mark on a steal and score by Sims. But the Golden Eagles spent the rest of the half whittling the lead down. A late three-pointer by Cooper capped a 12-5 ORU run and cut the gap to 48-34.
Baylor led at the half, 51-34. Cooper led the Golden Eagles with 13 points at the break.
ORU came out of the locker room hot, scoring the first four points of the half. A layup by Shelton off of a feed from Luper cut Baylor’s advantage to 51-38 with 18:54 to play.
But the Bears answered with a 9-2 run, putting the game out of reach. Two Jordan Madden free throws at the 16:39 mark restored the 20-point lead, at 60-40.
Later Sims put the finishing touches on a 12-0 Baylor run, scoring in transition to boost the lead to 78-47 with 11:18 to play.
Senior Jaci Bigham led the Golden Eagles with six assists, while Bernadett Balla added six rebounds off the bench.
Cooper was 4-for-7 from three-point range, though the rest of the ORU team combined for just one long-range shot.
With the win, Baylor is now 6-2 all-time against ORU. The Bears have won 44 straight home games.
The Golden Eagles continue their road trip on Friday, Dec. 14 in Ruston, La., when they face three-time national champion Louisiana Tech. Tipoff at the Thomas Assembly Center is scheduled for 7 pm CT, and live radio coverage is available around the world on ORUGoldenEagles.com.
For more information on ORU Athletics, visit www.ORUGoldenEagles.com.
Rob Walden is the Assistant Director for Media Relations at Oral Roberts University.