Nov. 26, 2011
TULSA, Okla. -- Led by Christiana Shorter's 13 points, the Missouri State Lady Bears shot a blistering .568 (21-of-37) from the floor against Oral Roberts to take a 51-35 lead into intermission Saturday afternoon at the Mabee Center. Shorter, who combined with Casey Garrison for 25 first-half points, sparked a 31-11 offensive spurt over a 10-minute stretch that put MSU in command.
The Lady Bears, who led by as many as 19 points, connected on 7-of-13 attempts from three-point range to overcome 13 first-half turnovers. Shorter converted 6-of-9 tries from the field, while Garrison went 5-of-7.
Both teams came out of the gate firing, as ORU's Kevi Luper and MSU's Jaleshia Roberson possessed the hot hand for their respective squads in the early stages of the game. Luper accounted for the Golden Eagles' first seven points, including a three-pointer at the 17:21 mark that handed the home team a 7-6 advantage.
But Roberson, who scored nine of MSU's first 10 points over the first 3:17, heated up from long-range to give the Lady Bears an early advantage. The senior drained her first three attempts from beyond the three-point arc, becoming the 21st player in school history to top the 1,000 career point mark in the process.
Shorter got into the act just before the first media timeout of the contest, as her bucket in the paint kicked off the Lady Bears key scoring run and began a stretch that would see the junior tally all 13 of her first-half points over the ensuing eight minutes. MSU extended its lead to 41-22 on a Garrison three with 5:44 left on the clock before the Golden Eagles would use an 8-0 run to draw to within 11.
But the Lady Bears once again kicked their offense into high gear, responding with eight unanswered points of their own to re-establish a 19-point cushion. Garrison, who would finish the half with 12 points, scored five straight for MSU, and Hannah Wilkerson canned her second triple of the game with 1:45 to play to cap the spurt.
ORU, which shot .400 (14-of-35) for the half, was led by Jordan Pyle's 12 points, while Luper contributed a total of seven.
