THE BASICS
Score: Oral Roberts 75 – St. Thomas 76
Records: ORU (6-12, 3-4); St. Thomas (7-11, 2-6)
Location: Schoenecker Arena – St. Paul, Minn.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Despite Hannah Cooper and Delaney Nix combining for 60 points, the Oral Roberts women's basketball team fell on the road to St. Thomas, 76-75, Saturday afternoon inside Schoenecker Arena.
 
Cooper played all 40 minutes for ORU and poured in a game-high 33 points on 12-of-23 shooting. The 30-plus point performance was Cooper's third of the season and the senior has now reached double-figures in 13 straight games. The El Paso, Texas, native also dished out a team-best four assists.
 
Nix totaled a career-high 27 points in 40 minutes of action and knocked down 6-of-11 three-pointers on the afternoon. Senior Ariel Walker chipped in eight points and Ruthie Udoumoh pulled down a game-best 11 rebounds.
 
The Tommies raced out to a 9-2 start in the opening quarter and held a 12-7 advantage at the first media timeout with 3:04 showing on the clock. Out of the stoppage, St. Thomas netted seven of the final 10 points to take a 19-10 lead into the second quarter. ORU struggled from the field in the opening period, finishing 4-of-15 from the field.
 
The Tommies stretched their lead to 18, 30-12, their largest of the game, following an 11-2 run to open the second period. A Nix layup broke the run, sparking a 5-0 stretch for ORU as they drew within 13, 30-17, with 3:21 remaining in the half. After St. Thomas pushed their lead back to 17, 39-22, the Golden Eagles closed the half on a 6-0 run to trim the deficit to 11, 39-28.
 
After the Tommies pushed their lead back to 17, 54-37, in the third, ORU responded with a quick 5-0 stretch to draw within 12, 54-42, at the under-five media timeout. St. Thomas outscored the Golden Eagles 9-8 the rest of the quarter as they took a 63-50 lead into the fourth. In the third, Nix caught fire from behind the arc, going 4-for-6 from three.
 
A Cooper layup to start the fourth sparked a 15-2 run for the Golden Eagles as they rallied to tie the game at 65-65 with 5:38 left. During the stretch, Cooper and Nix combined for 13 of the 15 ORU points. After the Tommies answered on the other end with a layup, Cooper put the Golden Eagles in front, 68-67, courtesy of her fourth and-one of the contest. The lead marked ORU's first of the afternoon.
 
St. Thomas fired back with five straight points to regain the lead, 72-68, as 2:40 remained in the contest. Cooper brought ORU to within one, 73-72, with :31 ticks left in the contest but the Tommies responded with 3-of-4 makes from the charity to stripe to stretch their lead back to four. Out of an ORU timeout, Nix drained her sixth triple of the contest to put the Golden Eagles within one, 76-75, with :04 ticks remaining. Following a St. Thomas turnover, Nix got off a look from half-court but it came up just short as the Tommies came away with the 76-75 win.

THE LEADERS
Oral Roberts: Cooper netted a game-high 33 points followed by Nix, who finished with 27. On the glass, Udoumoh pulled down 11 rebounds.

St. Thomas: The Tommies were led by Maggie Negaard, who totaled 19 points on the afternoon.
                                                                                                                                                 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- From the field, ORU shot 42.9 percent.
- The Golden Eagles finished 8-of-20 (40.0 percent) from behind the arc.
- ORU registered 10 steals, led by four from Udoumoh.
- The Golden Eagles were outrebounded, 42-40.
- ORU finished 13-of-16 from the charity stripe.
- Cooper drew a game-best 10 fouls.
- Walker contributed with eight points, six rebounds and three assists.
- Makenna Winans registered as season-high three blocks in the contest.

GAME NOTES
- Saturday's contest marked the third meeting all-time between ORU and St. Thomas.
- Despite the loss, the Golden Eagles still hold a 2-1 advantage in the series.
- Cooper has now scored 30-plus points three times in her career and has reached double-figures in 17 of the 18 contests this season.
- The senior topped ORU in assists for the 11th time this season.
- Nix's 20-plus point performance was her second of the season and her career.

Up Next
The Golden Eagles returns home to the Mabee Center Thursday, January 13 to take on North Dakota State at 7 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.

---#GoldenStandard---