The Basics
Score: No. 4 Oral Roberts 61, No. 5 North Dakota 54
Records: Oral Roberts (16-14), North Dakota (15-15)
Location: Denny Sanford PREMIER Center - Sioux Falls, S.D.
 
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 4 Oral Roberts used a late fourth-quarter spurt to open up a close game with No. 5 North Dakota and secure a 61-54 victory over the Fighting Hawks in Sunday's first quarterfinal of The Summit League Women's Championship.
 
The Golden Eagles got a season-high 22 points from senior Keni Jo Lippe, whose efforts helped put her squad into the semifinals for the fourth time in the last five seasons. Lippe went 4-for-5 from beyond the arc, including two key ones that bookended an 8-0 run midway through the fourth quarter that gave the Golden Eagles the lead for good.

Melissa Leet and Kacie Borowicz led UND with 13 points apiece, but the Fighting Hawks struggled from the floor, shooting just 30.9 percent while also turning it over 16 times. 

Katie Scott joined Lippe in double figures for ORU as she added 11 points, while Summit League Freshman of the Year Tirzah Moore chipped in with nine points, a team-high seven rebounds and a career-high six blocks.

It was a game of runs as both teams put together multiple scoring spurts, but neither could ever claim a double-digit lead in a contest that featured 18 lead changes.

ORU led 13-6 early but would relinquish that lead early in the second quarter when Jolene Daninger hit a stepback triple to cap a 10-2 run. The teams were tied at 22-22 with just over two minutes to play in the opening half, but ORU would get the final four points to take a 26-22 lead into the break.

The Golden Eagles extended that lead to 32-24, which would be their largest advantage of the game before UND roared back with nine straight to pull ahead 33-32. Daninger, who finished with 11 points, hit her second triple of the game during that stretch, but the Fighting Hawks went just 3-for-19 from beyond the arc in the contest.

The teams would eventually go into the fourth quarter squared up at 37-37. That stanza started with the teams exchanging the lead eight times before Lippe buried her first of two long-distance shots in the frame at the 5:43 mark to give the Golden Eagles a 47-45 edge.

After Tirzah Moore sank two free throws, Lippe once again hit from deep to cap the decisive 8-0 run that sealed the win for the Golden Eagles.

UND, who did not qualify for this postseason event last season, would trim the deficit down to three at 49-46, but that would be as close as the Fighting Hawks would get in the closing minutes.

The Golden Eagles will face top-seeded South Dakota State in Monday's opening semifinal at 12:30 p.m. CT.
 
Turning Point
Keni Jo Lippe hit her third 3-pointer of the game to give ORU a 47-45 lead with 5:43 to play and cap an 8-0 run with another 3-pointer just over a minute later to put the Golden Eagles ahead for good. 

Inside the Box Score

• ORU's Keni Jo Lippe made a season-high four 3-pointers on five attempts, while the rest of her team went just 1-for-11 from distance.
• ORU's Tirzah Moore scored seven of her nine points from the charity stripe and tallied a career-high six blocks.
• UND held a 54-37 advantage on the glass with Olivia Lane pacing all players with 12. The 54 rebounds were a season-high and the Fighting Hawks' 18 offensive boards were their most since pulling down 19 in the season opener at Weber State.

News & Notes

• This marks the fourth time in the last five seasons that Oral Roberts advanced to the semifinals.  Each of those times they played in the 4-5 matchup.
• ORU's Keni Jo Lippe recorded her fourth 20-plus point game of the season and exceeded her season-high of 21 set in the opening game vs. UNLV.
• UND's Kacie Borowicz reached double figures for the ninth straight game but was held below 20 for the first time in a five-game stretch.
• ORU will look to reach the tournament title game for the first time since falling to South Dakota State in 2010.