THE BASICS
Score: Oral Roberts 80 – South Dakota State 83
Records: ORU (3-9); South Dakota State (8-5)
Location: Frost Arena – Brookings, S.D.

BROOKINGS, S.D. – The Oral Roberts women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought battle Monday night on the road to South Dakota State, 83-80, in their Summit League opener inside Frost Arena in Brookings, South Dakota. 

Hannah Cooper, the reigning Summit League Peak Performer of the Week, poured in a game-best 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting, hauled in six rebounds and dished out four assists to lead the Golden Eagles on the night. Off the bench, Sara Rodrigues followed with 15 points after finishing 6-of-11 from the field.

Ariel Walker and Delaney Nix rounded out the double-figure scorers for ORU with 11 and 10, respectively. In her first start as a Golden Eagle, Makenna Winans contributed with six points and a team-best nine rebounds.

After the two sides traded the first eight points, the Golden Eagles used a quick 5-0 spurt that was capped off by a Winans three-pointer to take a 9-4 lead at the 5:33 mark. SDSU whittled the lead down to one, 9-8, but ORU responded with a 7-0 run to stretch their advantage to eight, 17-9, with 1:42 left in the quarter. Despite the Jackrabbits netting the final four points of the period, ORU took a 17-13 lead into the second. 

A 9-2 run by SDSU to start the second gave them their first lead of the contest, 22-21, at the 5:03 mark. Rodrigues broke the run with a turnaround jumper and sparked a 9-2 stretch for ORU as they pushed their lead to 31-24 with 2:00 left before the break. Both squads traded 6-0 runs to close the half as the Golden Eagles took a 37-30 lead into the break. 

Walker gave ORU their largest lead of the contest, 39-30, 12 seconds into the third period with a crafty finish at the rim. Five straight points from the Jackrabbits evened the score, 53-53, with 1:54 left in the quarter. Cooper quickly responded for ORU with an and-one on the ensuing possession to put ORU back on top, 56-53. After the Jackrabbits reclaimed the lead, 57-56, ORU capped off the period with the final five points, highlighted by a Nix half-court buzzer beater to take a 61-57 advantage into the fourth.

A 5-0 run by the Jackrabbits to start the fourth allowed them to jump in front 62-61 with 8:09 left to play. Nena Taylor answered with her second triple of the game on the next possession and Ruthie Udoumoh followed with a layup to put ORU back in front, 66-62, at the 7:11 mark. With the score level at 71-71, SDSU scored 10 of the next 14 points to open their largest lead of the contest, 81-75, with 1:30 left on the clock.

ORU battled back with five of the next six points to trim the deficit to two, 82-80, following a Rodrigues turnaround jumper with :38 ticks left on the clock. Out of a Jackrabbit timeout, Walker deflected the ball out of bounds off of Paige Meyer, setting ORU up for a chance to tie or take the lead. On the ensuing possession, Walker blew by the SDSU defender but couldn't finish the layup attempt with just over two seconds left in the contest. After a split at the line by the Jackrabbits, the Golden Eagles got one final look but were unable to convert as the Jackrabbits held on to win 83-80.

THE LEADERS
Oral Roberts: Cooper led four Golden Eagles in double figures with 25 points. Winans hauled in a game-high and career-high nine rebounds.

South Dakota State: Myah Selland topped the Jackrabbits with 15 points and seven rebounds. 
                                                                                                                                                 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Golden Eagles shot 45.3 percent from the field and held SDSU to 37.7 percent shooting.
- Defensively, ORU held the Jackrabbits to 15 percent from three-point range.
- The Golden Eagles matched their season-high with 10 threes on 38.5 percent shooting, which marked a season-best.
- ORU dished out 12 assists and registered eight steals.
- The Golden Eagles totaled a game-best six blocks led by two apiece from Rodrigues and Winans.
- On the glass, ORU was outrebounded 47-36.
- The Golden Eagles finished 12-of-14 from the foul line, while SDSU was 28-of-37.
- ORU led for 29:36 in the contest.
- The lead changed hands 11 times and there were eight ties in the game.
- Walker and Rodrigues tied for the team lead in steals with two each.
- Taylor contributed with six points off the bench.

GAME NOTES
- Monday's contest marked the 33rd meeting all-time between the two squads.
- Cooper led ORU in scoring for the seventh time this season and the third straight contest.
- The 20-plus point performance by the senior was her sixth of the year.
- Rodrigues reached double-figures for the third time this season.
- For the fourth straight game, Walker registered double-figures.
- Nix finished with double-figures for the 12th time in her career.

Up Next
The Golden Eagles remain on the road as they travel to face South Dakota Wednesday, December 21 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.