SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Oral Roberts bounced back from its buzzer-beating loss at St. Thomas to win back-to-back home games and improve to 5-1 in the Summit League standings.  

Second-year head coach Kelsi Musick has five players averaging double figures for the highest-scoring outfit in the League. The Golden Eagles are putting up 80.5 ppg with Texas Arlington transfer Taleyah Jones leading the charge at 16.8 ppg overall and 19.0 ppg against conference foes. Jalei Oglesby is averaging 13.1 ppg off ORU's bench and is the top-scoring reserve among Summit League players.

Jones and Oglesby will look to keep their momentum going with a pair of road games this week starting with a Thursday night matchup against Omaha.

The Golden Eagles' matchup with the Mavericks is one of seven #SummitWBB games this week that will be free for fans to watch on the Summit League Network. For a full schedule and more information on the free preview, fans can check out the following story.

ORU finishes off the week with a rare Sunday afternoon affair with League-leading South Dakota State, who has won seven straight games overall and is off to a 5-0 start in League play. The Jackrabbits, who have won 35 consecutive Summit League regular season games dating back to the 2021-22 campaign, are the top defensive unit in the League, surrendering just 59.4 ppg.

The ORU-SDSU game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network at 3 p.m. CT. 

AROUND THE LEAGUE
FREE PREVIEW WEEK ON THE SUMMIT LEAGUE NETWORK FOR GAMES ON JAN. 25TH and 27TH!
Thursday, Jan. 25
St. Thomas at NDSU* (WDAYX/SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Oral Roberts at Omaha* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
SDSU at Kansas City* (SLN) | 7 p.m. CT
Denver at South Dakota* (MS/SLN) | 7 p.m. CT

Saturday, Jan. 27
St. Thomas at North Dakota* (SLN) | 1 p.m. CT
Denver at Omaha* (SLN) | 2 p.m. CT
Kansas City at South Dakota* (SLN) | 2 p.m. CT
____________________________________________

Sunday, Jan. 28
Oral Roberts at SDSU* (CBSSN)        3 p.m. CT

Thursday, Feb. 1
Kansas City at Denver* (SLN)        6 p.m. MT
South Dakota at North Dakota* (MS2/SLN)    7 p.m. CT
SDSU at NDSU* (WDAYX/SLN)        7 p.m. CT
Omaha at St. Thomas* (SLN)        7 p.m. CT

Saturday, Feb. 3
Kansas City at St. Thomas* (SLN)        12 p.m. CT
NDSU at North Dakota* (SLN)        1 p.m. CT
Oral Roberts at Denver* (SLN)        1 p.m. MT
SDSU at South Dakota* (MS2/SLN)        6 p.m. CT

Rankings: (AP/Coaches)
All times local to site
*Summit League game

Key: FLO (FloSports), ESPN+ (ESPN Plus), MS (Midco Sports), MS2 (Midco Sports 2), SECN+ (Southeastern Conference Network Plus), SLN (Summit League Network), WDAYX (WDAY Xtra), WIU (GoLeathernecks.com/watch)

TEAM TRACKER
DENVER PIONEERS (4-14, 1-4 SL) | @DU_WHoops
Next Up: at South Dakota* (1/25; 7 p.m. CT); at Omaha* (1/27; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: North Dakota State* (L, 84-63) North Dakota* (L, 78-68)
Denver fell to 1-4 in League play after home losses to North Dakota State and North Dakota last week ... Against the Bison, a trio of Pioneers scored in double figures led by Jordan Jones, who led all scorers with 18 points … Angelina Robles added 12 points and three steals, while Emma Smith rounded out the double-figures scorers, chipping in with 11 points … In the loss to the Fighting Hawks, Emily Counsel paced the offensive effort with a game-high 21 points as she connected on five 3-pointers … Smith (17 points), Robles (12 points) and Makayla Minett (11 points) also scored in doubles figures for the Pios … Smith had a nice all-around game as well, adding eight rebounds, five assists and four steals ... DU hits the road to play at South Dakota Thursday and Omaha Saturday.

KANSAS CITY ROOS (10-10, 1-4 SL) | @KCRoosWBB
Next Up: South Dakota State* (1/25; 7 p.m. CT); at South Dakota* (1/27; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at North Dakota State* (L, 63-60); at North Dakota* (L, 76-62); Omaha* (W, 88-74)  
Kansas City picked up its first League win of the season thanks to an 88-74 victory over Omaha ... Four Roos reached double figures led by Dominique Phillips' season-high 23 points ... She also added eight rebounds and a career-high seven assists for KC, who improved to 1-4 in League action … Alayna Contreras garnered 15 points and dished out a career-high eight assists as Kansas City assisted on 23 of 34 made field goals ... Nariyah Simmons and Tamia Ugass rounded out Kansas City's double-digit scoring, tallying 14 and 11 points, respectively … The Roos knocked down 55.7 percent of their field goal attempts and 45.5 percent of their three-pointers … KC has connected on 50 percent or better from the field in three of its last five games after achieving that feat just twice in its opening 15 games ... The Roos host League-leading South Dakota State Thursday before traveling to play South Dakota Saturday.

NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS (7-12, 3-3 SL) | @UNDwbasketball
Next Up: St. Thomas* (1/27; 1 p.m. CT); South Dakota* (2/1; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Oral Roberts* (L, 71-55); at Denver* (W, 78-68) 
After falling to Oral Roberts on the road, North Dakota captured a 10-point road win at Denver to earn a split and stay at the .500 mark in League play … Against the Golden Eagles, Kacie Borowicz recorded her fifth career double-double and paced the Fightin Hawks in scoring for the 11th time with 19 points and 11 rebounds … She was followed by Kiyah Hurst's 18 points on 8-for-11 shooting … Kiera Pemberton also pulled down double-digit rebounds with 10 … UND earned its first Summit League road win against the Pioneers as four Fightins Hawks reached double figures ... Borowicz and Hurst each poured in 19, Pemberton added 14 and Mikayla Aumer tallied 11 off the bench to establish a new career-high … Hurst also notched her second double-double of the season with 12 rebounds ... UND is back home to face St. Thomas Thursday in its lone action of the week.
 
NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (10-8, 4-1 SL) | @NDSUwbb
Next Up: at St. Thomas* (1/25; 7 p.m. CT); South Dakota State* (2/1; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Denver* (W, 83-64); at Oral Roberts* (L, 84-75)  
The Bison went 1-1 last week with a road win against Denver and a ross loss to Oral Roberts … Against the Pioneers, Elle Evans led the way logging her second double-double of the season with a game-high 22 points and game-best 10 rebounds … She shot 9-for-17 from the field and added two steals … Heaven Hamling contributed 15 points to go with six rebounds against DU and also increased her career points total to 1,459 over four seasons, which is the most in the Bison Division I era and ranks ninth all-time … Abby Schulte rounded out the group reaching double figures in scoring with 10 points and doing so for the fourth time this season … Against the Golden Eagles, Evans paced the Bison with a game-high 23 points to go along with three rebounds and two assists … Avery Koenen added in a season-high 14 points with four rebounds, four steals and three assists, while Abby Graham chipped in 12 points with four rebounds ... The Bison only play once this week at St. Thomas Saturday.

OMAHA MAVERICKS (4-15, 0-6 SL) | @OmahaWBB
Next Up: Oral Roberts* (1/25; 7 p.m. CT); Denver* (1/27; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: South Dakota State* (L, 92-55); at Kansas City* (L, 88-74)
The Mavericks fell to 0-6 in League play and have now dropped nine straight after being bested by South Dakota State and Kansas City ... In the home loss to the Jackrabbits, Aaliyah Stanley paced the Mavericks with 12 points, going 5-for-9 from the field and 2-for-5 from downtown … Cora Olsen was just behind her with 11 points … Kennedi Grant posted a team-high five assists against the League-leading Jackrabbits … Against the Roos, Grant led the team with 21 points after going 6-for-12 from the field and 9-for-14 from the free throw line … Also reaching double-digits points was Grace Cave with 13 points (5-for-11) and Katie Keitges with 11 (4-for-5) … Grant led in rebounds with nine, just one shy of a double-double, while Cave dished out a career-high eight assists ... The Mavericks play host to Oral Roberts Thursday and Denver Saturday.

ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (14-5, 5-1 SL) | @ORUWBB
Next Up: at Omaha* (1/25; 7 p.m. CT); at South Dakota State* (1/28; 3 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: North Dakota* (W, 71-55); North Dakota State* (W, 84-75)   
Oral Roberts registered two home victories over North Dakota and previously unbeaten North Dakota State to move to 5-1 in League play ... Against the Fighting Hawks, Jalei Oglesby put up a dominate performance off the bench with 17 points on 8-of-15 from the field … Emily Robinson (14), Taleyah Jones (10), and Ruthie Udoumoh (10) rounded out the Golden Eagles in double figures … Robinson scored nine of her 14 in the second half, while Jones scored eight of her 10 points in the final 20 minutes, while also collecting five steals … Udoumoh, who added a game-high 13 rebounds, recorded her League-leading eighth double-double of the season … Udoumoh carried that momentum into the game against the Bison as she captured a career tying-high 23 points on 9-of-13 from the field to go with eight rebounds and earn her second TicketSmarter Peak Performer of the Week honor … Udoumoh's career night led the way as five Golden Eagles, Robinson (15), Jones (14), Oglesby (12) and Hannah Cooper (11) all reached double figures ... ORU has a pair of road tilts this week starting Thursday at Omaha before the Golden Eagles face League-leading South Dakota State Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network.
 
ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (11-8, 3-2 SL) | @TommieWBBall
Next Up: at North Dakota State* (1/25; 7 p.m. CT); at North Dakota* (1/27; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at South Dakota State* (L, 75-55); Oral Roberts* (W, 73-72); South Dakota* (L, 63-61) 
The Tommies fell to 3-2 in league play after a heartbreaking, two-point loss to South Dakota at the buzzer ... Jo Langbehn and Jade Hill led St. Thomas with 17 points apiece … Langbehn went 8-for-13 from the field, while Hill dished out five assists and moved within two points of surpassing the 1,000-point plateau for her career … Amber Scalia rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points and added four rebounds, two assists and two steals in what was the Tommies only action of the week … Angelina Hammond led the Tommies with eight rebounds … St. Thomas hits the road for a pair of games this week at North Dakota State Thursday and North Dakota Saturday ... The Tommies are 5-3 in true road games this season, which matches SDSU for the League-lead in that category. 

SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (13-7, 2-3 SL) | @SDCoyotesWBB
Next Up: Denver* (1/25; 7 p.m. CT); Kansas City* (1/27; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at St. Thomas* (W, 63-61) at South Dakota State* (L, 73-55) 
South Dakota picked up a key road win against St. Thomas as Tori DePerry made a layup at the buzzer to give the Coyotes a 63-61 victory … Kendall Holmes scored a game-high 19 points, knocking down five three-pointers for the second-straight game and third time this season … Natalie Mazurek recorded her third-straight double-figure game with 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting and a team-best seven rebounds … Grace Larkins Junior finished with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists while scoring six of her 10 points in the fourth quarter … In a road loss to in-state rival South Dakota State, Larkins was the lone Coyote in double-figures with a game-high 18 points … Mazurek led the Coyotes on the boards with a career-high 10 rebounds ... The Coyotes return home for a pair of games this week against Denver Thursday and Kansas City Saturday.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (13-5, 5-0 SL) | @GoJacksWBB 
Next Up: at Kansas City* (1/25; 7 p.m. CT); Oral Roberts* (1/28; 3 p.m. CT)
Previous Games: at Omaha* (W, 92-55); South Dakota* (W, 73-55)
The Jackrabbits are now the lone remaining unbeaten team In League play after picking up a road win against Omaha and a home triumph over in-state rival South Dakota … Against the Mavericks, Paige Meyer led all players with 18 points on a 7-for-9 shooting effort … Madison Mathiowetz contributed 16 points, three rebounds, two steals and two assists while Madysen Vlastuin finished with 12 points and five rebounds … For Vlastuin, it wa sher fourth double-digit scoring effort of the season and second in five League games ... Brooklyn Meyer and Jenna Hopp posted 11 points apiece to round out SDSU's five double-digit scorers … Against the Coyotes, seven Jackrabbits finished with at least seven points, led by a season-best 15 from senior Tori Nelson … Brooklyn Meyer added 13 and Mesa Byom chipped in 10 off the bench … Ellie Colbeck and Vlastuin each poured in a trio of three-pointers for nine points apiece ... The Jackrabbits have now won 35 consecutive regular season games in League play ... SDSU travels to Kansas City Thursday before returning home for a rare Sunday tilt against Oral Roberts in a game that will showcase the League's top two teams on CBS Sports Network ... Tip off is at 3 p.m. CT.

#SUMMITWBB