RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's basketball team battled well but fell 72-63 to the Oral Roberts (ORU) Golden Eagles Wednesday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Junior
Iyana Dorsey led the Vaqueros (0-5) with 27 points, going 13-for-13 at the free throw line, and adding two assists. Dorsey scored 22 of her points in the second half to spark an admirable comeback effort. Senior
Mele Kailahi totaled 11 points with five rebounds. Junior
Kade Hackerott neared a double-double, scoring nine points while collecting 11 rebounds and three blocks.
Ruthie Udoumoh and
Emily Robinson paced ORU (4-2) with 16 points each, followed by
Hannah Cooper's 14 and 10 from
Gentry Baldwin. Jalei Oglesby tallied a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Vaqueros used a well-executed opening quarter to hold a 20-16 lead after 10 minutes of play. They hit four three-pointers in the first quarter, shooting 50% with two threes from junior
Arianna Sturdivant. UTRGV used sound defense to keep the Oral Roberts offense contained early on, following the ball well and using active hands to disrupt and slow the Golden Eagles down.
UTRGV doubled up ORU, taking a 20-10 lead after a layup from Kailahi and one free throw from junior
Deborah Ogayemi. But the Golden Eagles scored eight unanswered points to close the first and open the second quarter, cutting into the lead.
The defenses slowed the scoring down as the second quarter continued, with each team forcing some turnovers as both squads tried to push the pace. Nearly four minutes of the quarter saw no scoring from either team.
Sophomore
Charlotte O'Keefe snatched some good defensive rebounds and Hackerott continued to be a spark for the Vaqueros. But the Golden Eagles stymied UTRGV's offense as the first half wrapped up, tying the contest then taking their first lead, 26-24, since the first bucket of the game with 2:12 remaining in the half. O'Keefe played tough in the paint to record a layup and make it a one-point game, 28-27, at the break.
Oral Roberts opened the second half with a 9-0 run to take a 10-point advantage. Dorsey turned it up a notch to lead UTRGV through the back half of the third quarter, scoring the team's first eight points of the half with a deep three-pointer, strong driving and good free throw shooting. The Vaqueros forced the Golden Eagles to foul, and after a free throw from Ogayemi, the deficit was trimmed to 46-40.
Sturdivant notched a pair of steals to back UTRGV's comeback campaign in the frame. But the Golden Eagles closed the quarter on an 8-0 run to hold a 54-40 lead heading to the final 10 minutes. ORU shot 52.6% from the field while holding UTRGV to 22.2% to expand the advantage.
Oral Roberts continued its scoring run to start the fourth, until Kailahi knocked down a three-pointer to end the UTRGV scoring drought. Dorsey continued to pace the Vaqueros in the second half, kissing a layup off the glass and shooting well from the charity stripe to trim the deficit a touch.
UTRGV upped the defensive pressure in the final minutes, slowing ORU down. Hackerott and Ogayemi worked hard down low, cleaning up the defensive boards along with O'Keefe. Hackerott hit a nice layup off an ORU inbound turnover, then tabbed a block on the other end of the court that led to a Dorsey layup to get within 61-55.
The Vaqueros got fired up as they made the game close, and Dorsey's great defensive effort led to an offensive foul with a technical. Dorsey hit both free throws, then found O'Keefe for a layup to make it 66-61.
UTRGV's defense had the Golden Eagles scrambling, but a couple of good plays in the final minute and a half helped ORU secure the win.
The Vaqueros' next game will open Western Athletic Conference (WAC) play Nov. 29 at Grand Canyon at 8 p.m.
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