TULSA, Okla. - Down by 14 points in the second half, Oral Roberts University made a furious rally to tie the University of South Dakota with 7:43 remaining. But the Golden Eagles would not score again until the final seconds of the game, and they fell to the Coyotes, 60-57, on Monday night at the Mabee Center.

The loss snaps ORU’s 21-game Summit League home winning streak and puts them two games behind South Dakota State in the race for the Summit League regular season crown. The Jacks were victorious over Oakland, 61-51, on Monday night.

Amber Hegge led USD (14-6, 6-5 Summit League) with 24 points, while Annie Roche added 12. The ‘Yotes shot 45.7% from the floor.

Kevi Luper led the Golden Eagles (14-8, 8-3 Summit League) with 21 points, while Jordan Pyle notched a double-double, scoring 16 and ripping down 11 boards.

The opening stages of the game went according to script for the Coyotes. Six straight points by Hegge and a three-pointer by Roche gave South Dakota an 11-2 lead at the 16:25 mark.

Hegge continued to find gaps in ORU’s zone defense. The senior scored ten straight USD points midway through the half, including a bruising layup at the 10:05 mark to put her team ahead, 24-15.

The USD post could not be stopped in the opening half. Hegge scored 19 points before the break and her team took a 39-29 lead into the break.

ORU fell behind by as many as 14 in the 2nd half, but Luper took the game over soon after. The Adair native scored seven straight points, including a contested jumper in traffic, to cut USD’s lead to 51-45 with 13:09 left.

Luper’s surge keyed a team-wide comeback that peaked at the 7:43 mark, when Pyle scored a three-point play to tie the score at 54-54. The play capped a 16-3 ORU run.

Unfortunately, that moment would be the high watermark for Jerry Finkbeiner’s team on Monday night. Following Pyle’s three-point play, ORU missed their next 11 shots and didn’t score again until Georgia Jones hit a three in the game’s waning seconds that cut USD’s lead to 58-57.

But two free throws from Roche iced the game, and the Coyotes left Tulsa with the biggest victory of their maiden Summit League voyage.

ORU’s Summit League home winning streak, which ends at 21 games, was the third-longest in conference history.

Luper now has 2,079 points for her collegiate career. She enters the weekend 26 points shy of Krista Ragan’s Summit League record of 2,105 points.

The Golden Eagles next take the court on Saturday, Feb. 4, when they travel to Fargo, N.D. to face North Dakota State University. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 pm CT.