TULSA, Okla. - Oral Roberts used a late first-half run to storm past Western Illinois, 101-75, on Saturday, Feb. 26 at the Mabee Center.
The Fighting Leathernecks (7-20, 5-12) trailed the Golden Eagles (19-9, 15-2) by six points in the early going as Jordan Pyle and Kevi Luper combined to score the first six points of the game.
Western Illinois would battle back to take a 10-8 lead on Anne Borgertpoepping's three-pointer with just over 16 minutes remaining in the first half.
Oral Roberts would build a 22-14 lead thanks to a Georgia Jones' three-point jumper with 13:15 on the clock. The Leathernecks would battle back to cut the deficit to four (22-18) before the second media timeout of the half.
The Golden Eagles would force two Leatherneck turnovers after the break and force Western Illinois to take a timeout trailing 27-18.
Priscila Cergol would give Oral Roberts its first double-digit lead of the game (30-18) when she drilled a three-pointer with just over 10 minutes to play.
The Leathernecks would pull within 10 points twice in the following minutes but the Golden Eagles ripped off a 13-3 run to push their lead to 14 points (35-21).
Sadie Webb's trey with eight minutes remaining stopped the run and pulled Western within 11 points (35-24) before her free throw with 6:46 on the clock cut the deficit to single-digits (35-26) for the first time in almost four minutes.
Oral Roberts would outscore Western 15-10 in the closing minutes as Luper capped off the half with a jumper at the buzzer to give the Golden Eagles a 50-36 halftime lead.
The Leathernecks would close the gap to as few as 12 points on two occasions in the second half, but Oral Roberts would continue its solid offensive output.
Cergol's three-point jumper at the 9:36 mark gave the Golden Eagles a 21-point lead (75-54) as Western was unable to overcome the late first-half run.
Luper led all scorers with 22 points while ripping down five boards. The sophomore scored 14 of her points in the first half.
Five other Golden Eagles scored in double-digits as Pyle, Dominque Allen and Savanna Buck each recorded double-doubles
The Leathernecks were paced by Salvatori's career-high 16 points. Valencia Kelly scored 12 points, all in the first half, and Brittany Demery grabbed a team-leading six boards and had 12 points.
 Borgertpoepping dished out seven assists and grabbed five rebounds while Jackie Barton chipped in with 10 points.
Western Illinois shot 37.8 percent (28-for-74) from the floor and was just 10-for-20 from the charity stripe.
The Golden Eagles shot 45.5 percent (36-for-73) from the floor including 10-for-20 from beyond the arc and 19-for-25 from the free throw line.
Oral Roberts grabbed 52 rebounds while the Leathernecks snagged 40 and committed 14 turnovers to Western's 16.
Western Illinois will wrap up the regular season at 7 p.m. on Monday (Feb. 28) at Centenary before squaring off against Oral Roberts in The Summit League Tournament on March 5.
A complete box score and game statistics will be posted when they become available.
