TULSA, Okla. — A put back by senior Arianna James with .04 seconds left in the game gave McNeese State to a 72-71 Southland Conference victory over Oral Roberts on Saturday.

McNeese (19-9, 5-3 SLC) placed four players in double figure scoring and was led by 15 from Caitlyn Baggett. Alaina Verdin and Allison Baggett both scored 13 and Ashlyn Baggett scored 12.

ORU (8-10, 5-3) led 71-70 with 25 seconds remaining but turned the ball over. James grabbed the rebound of a missed jumper by Caitlyn Baggett and scored on the layup for the winning basket.

ORU called a timeout to set up a play but Caitlyn Baggett stole the ball at half court as time expired.

Taylor Cooper and Jaci Bigham both scored a game-high 20 points for ORU.

McNeese shot 40.3 percent from the field and was 11 of 13 from the free-throw line. ORU was 47.2 percent from the field and 57.1 from 3-point range.

McNeese took the lead early and held on to the lead through the first 3 minutes of the game. The Golden Eagles scored the next eight points, including two 3-pointers, to take a 13-6 lead with 16:30 left in the game. McNeese came back with two straight 3s to cut the lead to 13-12, but ORU went on a 5-0 run to extend its lead to 18-12.

ORU built its largest lead of the game of 11 points with 6:14 left, but McNeese cut the lead to four points twice late in the half on a 3-pointer by Allison Baggett the a layup by Caitlyn Baggett with 3:14 left.

ORU ended the first-half scoring with a Cooper 3-pointer for a 42-35 lead.

The Cowgirls will host Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday at the Lake Charles Civic Center.

(mgnonline.com)