SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Western Illinois Women's Basketball team saw its season come to an end in a 108-79 loss to top-seeded Oral Roberts in the quarterfinals of The Summit League Championships on Saturday, March 5 at Sioux Falls Arena.

"Oral Roberts is playing great basketball right now," said head coach Leslie Crane. "If they continue to play like this I don't see anyone else beating them."

The Golden Eagles (21-9, 16-2) got off to a fast start in a contest that was never in doubt. Oral Roberts jumped out to an early 14-0 lead before the Fighting Leathernecks (8-21, 6-12) got on the board with a Valencia Kelly free throw at the 16:06 mark of the first half.

Western's first field goal came with just over 15 minutes remaining as Kelly put home a layup to make it 18-3. The Leathernecks would close the gap to 21-8 after Michele Salvatori hit a three-pointer with 12:55 on the clock.

Oral Roberts would see its lead hover near the 20-point mark before finally taking 39-19 lead on Kevi  Luper's  with just over six minutes to play.

The Leathernecks would cut the deficit to 19 points (41-22) with five minutes remaining but the Golden Eagles outscored Western 19-10 the rest of the way to head to the locker room with a 60-32 lead.

Luper, the two-time reigning Summit League "Player of the Year", scored 14 points in the first half as Oral Roberts shot 57.1 percent (24-for-42) from the floor in the first 20 minutes.

The Golden Eagles' defense was able to hold the Leathernecks to just 33.3 percent (12-for-36) shooting in the first half.

The second half featured much of the same from Oral Roberts as the Golden Eagles never led by less than 27 points over the final 20 minutes.

Luper led all scorers with 28 points while Priscila Cergol finished with 20. Georgia Jones added 15 and Jordan Pyle recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Kelly paced the Leathernecks with 17 points while Sadie Webb scored 14. Jackie Barton fell just shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 boards and Erica Lewis added 10 points.

Anne Borgertpoepping scored seven points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out five assists in her final game as a Leatherneck.

Western Illinois shot 41.3 percent (31-for-75) for the game but was just 9-for-17 from the free throw line. The Leathernecks committed 18 turnovers while tallying 21 assists.

Oral Roberts finished the game shooting 51.9 percent (42-for-81) from the floor including 12-of-26 from beyond the arc and 12-for-13 from the charity stripe.

The Golden Eagles set Summit League Tournament records in field goals made (42) and total points (108) as they downed Western for the fifth-straight time.

The Leathernecks dropped to 0-4 all-time against Oral Roberts in the postseason. Kelly finished the season with 16 games in double-figures while Webb recorded 18.