OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha women's basketball team led much of the game but was unable to fend off a late rally by Oral Roberts on Wednesday evening, falling 67-65 at Baxter Arena. The Mavericks are now 6-7 (0-1 Summit League), while the Golden Eagles improve to 9-5 (1-0 Summit League).
Senior guard Michaela Dapprich had game-high 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor with three 3-pointers. Dapprich added six rebounds and three assists. Senior forward Mikaela Shaw scored 14 points and a team-best eight boards.
Junior guard Remy Davenport added 12 points and four assists. Sophomore guard Amber Vidal chipped in seven points, four assists and four steals.
Faith Ihim had a double-double to lead Oral Roberts with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Lakota Beatty scored 16 points on 5-of-16 shooting from the floor with five 3-pointers. Kaylan Mayberry was also in double figures with 14 points and eight boards.
Omaha took an early 6-2 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers from Vidal and Dapprich. A three from Beatty tied the game at 10-10 with 3:24 left in the opening quarter. Two free throws from Shaw gave Omaha a four-point lead before an Ihim layup made the score 17-15 at the end of the period.
Dapprich scored six points in the opening minutes of the second quarter as Omaha's lead grew to nine points. A layup from senior guard Abi Lujan extended UNO's lead to 34-23 with 2:39 remaining. Oral Roberts closed the half on a 5-0 run to make the score at the half 34-28.
The Mavericks pushed their lead to 13 points early in the third quarter, as a layup from sophomore center Courtney Vaccher and a trey by Davenport made the score 41-28. Beatty hit three 3-pointers as ORU outscored UNO 17-8 over a span of 5:57 cutting the lead to four points, 49-45. Omaha, however, closed the quarter with a trey from Davenport, leaving Omaha with a 52-45 advantage at the end of the period.
A jumper by Shaw with 8:07 left in the fourth quarter gave UNO a 55-49 lead. Oral Roberts then rallied again with a 6-2 run, as Montserrat Brotons connected on back-to-back buckets. Dapprich answered with a layup with 4:12 remaining to make the score 61-57. Two Mayberry free throws cut the Omaha lead to two points. The Mavericks managed to extend the lead to 65-61 with 1:46 remaining on a Shaw basket. Following a Beatty free throw, Maria Martianez cut the UNO lead to one with a jumper. With five seconds left, Beatty hit a 3-pointer putting the Golden Eagles ahead 67-65. On the final possession, Shaw was able to put up a falling last-second shot, but time expired to give ORU the win.
Omaha returns to action on Sunday, Jan. 1, hosting York College. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. at Sapp Fieldhouse, and Donny Baarns will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2, and links to live audio, video and stats will be available on OMavs.com.
