The Missouri State Lady Bears fought back from a 28-point deficit before falling to Oral Roberts, 96-79, Saturday (Dec. 15) evening in women’s college basketball action in Tulsa, Okla. Melissa Busby scored 18 of her career-high 24 points in the second half and Maggie Dwyer notched a career-best 23-point effort to lead MSU’s comeback bid.
Oral Roberts got career nights from Rachel Watman and Whitney Wehmeyer, shooting .547 from the field as a team to wrap up its seventh win of the year. The Golden Eagles controlled the interior, outscoring the Lady Bears 42-26 in the paint while outrebounding MSU by a 47-34 margin.
Missouri State connected on 14-of-29 three-point tries in the game, the most by a Lady Bear team since MSU’s last meeting with Oral Roberts on December 20, 2005, when it went 16-of-34 from beyond the arc.
Oral Roberts jumped out to an early double-digit advantage, grabbing a 5-3 lead on Janae Voelker’s three-pointer with 17:35 to play. The Golden Eagles never looked back, extending their advantage to as many as 27 points in the opening period before taking a 49-25 lead into the lockerroom on the strength of .529 (18-of-34) shooting from the field.
Jenny Hardin controlled the paint for ORU, scoring nine of her 11 first-half points over a five-minute span to turn a six-point game into a 21-6 affair with 11:30 to go in the half.
The Golden Eagles outscored the Lady Bears by a 28-10 margin in the paint in the opening half while outboarding MSU 27-19. Wehmeyer added 10 points and Watman chipped in nine for ORU in the first stanza.
ORU continued its dominance early in the second half, pushing its lead to 28 on Hardin’s layup with 17:48 to play. Missouri State cut the deficit to 19 on Busby’s fourth three-pointer of the night with 13:01 to play, and Dwyer’s trey made it a 61-43 game just moments later.
MSU cut further into the Golden Eagles’ lead when Busby reeled off seven straight points to bring the Lady Bears to within 15. Tahnee Balerio’s three-point play with just over five minutes to play made it a 79-65 game, before Dwyer’s basket with 4:27 on the clock drew Missouri State to within 12 points. Marisha Brown’s three-pointer with just over two minutes left cut the lead to 85-75.
But that would be as close as the Lady Bears would get, as Watman salted away a 96-79 victory for ORU, scoring seven of the Golden Eagles’ final nine points to finish with a game and career-high 26 points.
Five Golden Eagles finished in double figures, as Wehmeyer totaled 22 points and 12 rebounds, both new career highs. Hardin finished with 17 points, while Mariano Camargo totaled 14 to go along with seven assists and 10 rebounds. Voelker also finished in double digits with 11 points.
Busby knocked down 6-of-11 attempts from three-point range, eclipsing her previous career scoring high by seven points. Dwyer went 9-of-18 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Balerio also turned in a solid performance, recording one career-high with seven steals and matching another with 12 assists.
The Lady Bears, who fell to 1-8 on the season, return home to Hammons Student Center for a 7:05 p.m. matchup against Canisius on Friday (Dec. 21).
