TULSA, Oklahoma -- One week ago, Sam Houston State appeared ready to run away and hide from the rest of the Southland Conference women’s teams, holding a 9-1 record after six consecutive victories.

But a 90-40 loss at Oral Roberts Thursday coupled with last Saturday’s 52-48 defeat by Lamar have put the Bearkats and the Cardinals in a tie for Southland leadership.ORU is nipping at both teams’ heals.

Sam Houston and Lamar are tied for first with 9-3 league records. Oral Roberts remains in the regular season title mix with a 10-4 Southland mark. ORU upped its season record to 12-11 with Thursday’s win while the Bearkats dropped to 13-11.

Two long scoring runs in the first half put the Eagles in command. After Britni Martin gave the Kats their only lead of the night, 5-0 just 1:53 into the contest, ORU went on a 15-1 run.

Sequeena Thomas gave Sam Houston its first field goal in a nine minute span at 9:39 to cut the lead to 15-6. The Kats got no closer than eight points the rest of the period. After ORU ended the half with a 9-0 run in the final four minutes, the Eagles held a 36-19 lead.

Life got no better in the second half as ORU started the period with a 13-6 run to go up 49-25 at the first media timeout. The Eagles led by as many as 51 per the contest ended as ORU outscored Sam Houston 54-21 in the second period.

Sam Houston posted its worst field goal shooting night of the season, going 10 of 51 from the field for just 19.6 percent. The Kats were 2-of-15 from three point range.

Oral Roberts, led by Jaci Bigham with 17 points, shot 43.5 percent (30-of-69). Three other Eagles scored in double figures. Martin was Sam Houston’s scoring leader with 10 points.

The Bearkats face another challenge Saturday at 2 p.m. in Conway, Ark., against the Central Arkansas Bears.