OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha women's basketball team couldn't quite overcome a 14-point halftime deficit, as Oral Roberts grabbed a 66-52 win over the Mavericks at the Sapp Fieldhouse on Wednesday evening.
The Mavericks fell to 6-16 overall and 1-9 in Summit League play. The Golden Eagles improve to 11-12 overall and 5-5 in league action.
Mikaela Shaw had a career high with 32 points and seven rebounds to lead the Mavericks. She was 10-of-14 from the floor and 12-of-12 from the free throw line.
Vanessa Barajas and Taijhe Kelly each had five points before fouling out late in the game. Kelly grabbed four rebounds and blocked five shots. Lanese Bough chipped in four points, four assists, and seven rebounds. Bobbi Beckwith grabbed three rebounds and had two steals.
Vicky McIntyre had her 17th double-double of the season for Oral Roberts with a game high 33 points and 24 rebounds. McIntyre also had two steals and four blocked shots. Jordan Doyle added 10 points, while Faith Ihim chipped in eight points.
The game got off to a slow start offensively, as Omaha trailed 15-8 at the 9:48 mark of the first half. Shaw scored six of the Mavericks first eight points. But from there the Golden Eagles outscored UNO 18-11 the rest of the half to take a 33-19 lead at halftime.
ORU opened the second half with a McIntyre layup to extend the lead to 16 points (35-19). A pair of Shaw free throws and a Kelly jumper in the paint cut the lead to 35-23 with 15:55 remaining in the game.
Trailing 39-23 with 16:23 left to play, Omaha reeled off 13 straight points courtesy of eight points from Shaw and the Mavs first 3-pointer of the game from Felicia Anderson. That cut the deficit to 39-36 with 12:46 left and gave UNO some life.
A 3-pointer by Remy Davenport with 9:14 remaining cut the Golden Eagles lead to 42-40. The Mavericks had a chance to tie the game following a Golden Eagle turnover, but Bough's shot rolled off the rim. The following possession McIntyre put ORU up four points. Shaw twice cut the Oral Roberts lead to two points, but each time McIntyre would answer to extend the lead.
ORU used a 15-0 run over a 5:14 span late in the game to take a 61-44 lead with 1:43 left in the game. Six points from Shaw and a layup from Bough in the final 1:27 of the game made the final score 66-52.
Omaha shot 34.6 percent (18-of-52), while ORU hit 44.2 percent (23-of-52) from the floor. The Mavericks shot 87.5 percent (14-of-16) from the free throw line, while the Golden Eagles shot 66.7 percent (16-of-24).
Omaha welcomes Western Illinois to Sapp Fieldhouse on Sunday, February 8 at 2:00 p.m.
