Second-Half Surge Lifts ORU Women Past Oakland, 91-87

ROCHESTER, Mich. – Kevi Luper and Janae Voelker combined for 51 points as Oral Roberts overcame a 15-point second half deficit to defeat Oakland by a score of 91-87 on Saturday afternoon at the Athletics Center O’Rena.

The Golden Eagles won their seventh consecutive Summit League contest to improve to 16-7 overall and 10-2 in conference play. The win was also head coach Jerry Finkbeiner‘s 225th victory of his career at ORU.

Trailing 68-53 with 11:55 remaining, the Golden Eagles outscored Oakland 31-15 to take their first lead since early in the first half with 2:19 remaining.

Luper, who scored a game-high 31 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the field and a 9-of-10 effort from the free-throw line, started the rally by scoring all of ORU’s points in an 11-3 run, capped by a 3-point basket to cut the advantage to single digits for the first time in the second half.

The Golden Eagles kept chipping away at Oakland’s lead until freshman Savanna Buck (Pinehurst, Texas) nailed a 3-pointer with 2:19 remaining to take an 84-83 lead.

The Golden Grizzlies retook the lead on a Melissa Jeltema jumper with 1:30 remaining before Voelker converted a layup eight seconds later. Luper then knocked down a jumper with 27 seconds remaining to put the game away.

Oakland shot 58 percent in the first half to take a 53-44 lead into the break. The Golden Eagles trailed by as many as 17 points before ending the half on a 12-6 run.

Voelker, a senior from Newton, Kan., posted 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 mark from 3-point range. Voelker also pulled down seven boards with two assists and two steals.

Alex Adekunle (11), Jaci Bigham (11) and Jordan Pyle (10) also scored in double figures, while Buck pulled down a career-high 10 boards and added six points.

The Golden Eagles shot 46 percent (32-of-69) from the field, 45 percent (9-of-20) from beyond the arc and 86 percent (18-of-21) from the charity stripe.

ORU turned the ball over 19 times while forcing 20 Oakland turnovers on 11 steals. The Golden Eagles lost the rebound battle by a narrow 38-36 margin.

The Golden Eagles continue their road tilt at 6:00 p.m. CT on Monday at IPFW.