OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha women's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker on Thursday night as Oral Roberts got a jumper from the free throw line with two seconds left to play to pull off a 67-65 victory inside Baxter Arena. Omaha is now 10-9 overall and 3-4 in Summit League play. Oral Roberts improved to 8-10 overall and 5-1 in conference play.
Junior Mikaela Shaw had her seventh double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Amber Vidal added 14 points, five assists, and three steals. Sophomore Remy Davenport chipped in 13 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and blocked two shots. Freshman Ellie Brecht had six points.
Kaylan Mayberry led Oral Roberts with 19 points and four rebounds. Faith Ihim added 12 points and five boards.
Omaha shot 42.3 percent from the field in the first half, but trailed at halftime 36-28. The Mavericks struggled from 3-point distance shooting only 11.1 percent (1-for-9). Oral Roberts, who lead by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, shot 48.5 percent from the field (16-of-33). The Golden Eagles held a 36-28 rebounding advantage in the first half.
Trailing for most of the third quarter, Omaha mounted a 12-4 run midway through the period to draw within two points, 48-46. Davenport scored six points and Vidal added three more during the Maverick's surge.
Two Shaw free throws with 7:40 left in the fourth quarter tied the game, 51-51. ORU would quickly push the lead back to four points on free throws by Ashley Beatty and a lay-up by Blair Bryce. Undaunted, UNO mounted another comeback to tie the game with 4:25 remaining in regulation. Davenport drained a trey and an old fashioned three point play from freshman Kalen Phillips would draw the game even, 57-57. Mayberry would nail a 3-pointer and Bryce sank a free throw to give the Golden Eagles another four point lead. Brecht connected on a 3-pointer for Omaha only to see Maria Martianez answer with a three of her own for Oral Roberts.
Following a Maverick timeout, Brecht cut the lead to one with her second trey of the game. ORU hit one of two free throws to hold a 65-63 lead with 24 seconds remaining. Shaw drove the lane for a lay-up to tie the game with 14 seconds remaining. Following the made basket, Mayberry pushed the ball up the court and took a shot from the free throw line with two seconds left in regulation for ORU. The shot hit the rim and took a couple of bounces before falling through the cylinder after the buzzer sounded to send the Mavericks to their first home Summit League loss of the season.
For the game, Omaha shot 42.6 percent from the field (23-for-54) and 35.3 percent from distance (6-for-17). Oral Roberts connected on 43.5 percent of its shots from the floor (27-for-62) and 36.8 percent from long range (7-for-19). The Mavericks won the rebounding battle 34-33, but turned the ball over 11 times compare to five by the Golden Eagles.
The Mavericks will look to rebound next weekend with a pair of Summit League road contests. Omaha visits Fort Wayne on Thursday, Jan. 28 at 6 p.m. (CT) before a Saturday, Jan. 30 match-up at Western Illinois at 4:30 p.m.
