MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois women's basketball (6-11, 3-4) had a 40-39 halftime lead but Oral Roberts (11-7, 5-2) was able to slow the Leatherneck offensive attack in the second half enough to corral the 78-66 victory inside Western Hall on Monday night.

Western collected six first half three-pointers and shot 48.6 percent from the field as the offense was firing on all cylinders. Three Leathernecks finished in double-digits led by Sadie Webb with 21, her eighth career 20-point game.

Oral Roberts sprinted out to a 7-2 advantage before Webb converted a baseline jumper at the 18:22 mark to bring Western within three, 7-4.

Kevi Luper knocked down back-to-back jumpers to extend its lead to 11-4 at the 17-minute mark. A triple from Webb cut into the lead with 15:54 on the clock making it 11-7. Saule Kontautaite followed with a deep ball of her own to get Western within one, 11-10.

The hot shooting continued as Webb again found room on the baseline for jumper keeping the Leathernecks in it, 14-12, at the 13:24 mark. The Purple & Gold tied the contest at 14-14 on another jumper from Webb.

Webb continued to have cross hairs on the rim with another jumper giving the Leathernecks a 19-18 lead at the 10:39 mark. Luper answered with a three-pointer to give the lead back to the Golden Eagles, 21-19.

The Webb and Luper battle continued with a triple from Webb to put Western back on top 22-21 before Luper hit a triple of her own at the 8-minute mark giving ORU a 26-24 advantage.

Michele Salvatori converted the fifth deep ball of the half to give Western a 27-26 lead at the 7:08 mark. ORU again had the answer and Bernadett Balla knocked down a jumper to give the visitors a 28-27 lead.

The pace slowed as both teams were stuck on 31-31 with 3:55 left before the break. Kontautaite converted sixth triple of the half for Western at the 3:30 mark to give Western a 34-31 lead.

After 20 minutes of action Western held a 40-39 advantage. Six three-pointers and 48.6 percent field goal shooting paced the offense. Webb finished the first half with 18 points while Kontautaite had 11.

Luper had 16 points at the half while ORU shot 50 percent from the field and also knocked down six triples. The first half featured 13 lead changes and four ties.

ORU opened the second half on a 9-0 run to take a 48-40 lead with 16 minutes left on the clock. A deep ball from Salvatori ended the run at the 15:15 mark to make it 48-43. The junior followed with another triple to get Western back into the game 48-46.

With 11:29 left in regulation ORU had extended its lead to 56-48. Jordan Pyle was held scoreless in the first half but powered ORU's comeback with 12 early second half points.

A Valencia Kelly layup at the 9:27 mark cut the deficit to 58-53 as the Leathernecks regained some momentum. Webb drilled a triple to get the Leathernecks within four, 60-56, with 7:30 left.

Two free throws from Brittany Demery cut the ORU lead to 62-60 with 5:37 left in the game. Luper answered with a triple to extend the lead to 65-60 on the following possession.

An ORU turnover before the final media timeout of the half gave the ball back to Western trailing by seven, 69-62, with 3:22 on the clock.

The Golden Eagles pulled away in the final two minutes and collected the 78-66 victory

Joining Webb in double-digits were Kontautaite with 13 points and Salvatori with 12. Kelly finished with eight points and set a new career high-mark with seven assists. Western used 23 assists to collect 27 field goals on the night.

Luper finished with 27 points while Pyle collected 14 and Amber Carver had 10.

The final road trip of January will begin with Western's first trip to Vermillion, S.D. to face the Coyotes of South Dakota on Saturday (Jan. 21) at 5 p.m.

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