KANSAS CITY, MO�€"All any coach can ask for is a shot
to win the game in the final seconds. Oral Roberts had that shot,
but the Golden Eagles fell just short when Katie Langford's
(Arthurton, Australia) 19-foot jumper rimmed out with less than a
second to play as Valparaiso hung on for a 64-63 win over ORU in
the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament title game, Tuesday at
Kemper Arena.
Valparaiso (20-11) wins
the Mid-Con Tourney crown for the second straight year and gains
the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. ORU (17-13)
suffered its first tourney title game loss after wins in 1999 and
2001.
Down by three points
with 1:35 to play it appeared as though the Golden Eagles might
pull out their third straight come-from-behind win of the
tournament. After Valpo's Jenna Stangler made two free throws for a
64-61, the Crusaders had a chance to extend the lead further but
Jamie Gutowski missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw
opportunity and Langford hit a short jumper in the lane to bring
ORU within 64-63 with 28 seconds left.
The Golden Eagles,
forced to foul, sent Valpo's Katie Boone to the line where she
missed a pair of free throws, setting up ORU's last shot.
Tournament MVP Leah
Cannon (Adelaide, Australia) drove the length of the court
and, when Langford's defender came to double Cannon, the ORU point
guard passed to a wide open Langford who missed her jumper from
just inside the 3-point arc on the left baseline.
For the third straight
tourney game, ORU battled from behind to keep it close. ORU trailed
24-16 with 8:27 left in the first half, but clawed back to tie the
score at 32-all at halftime. In the second half, the Golden Eagles
appeared to be on the verge of being taken out, but ORU kept
battling and never let the Crusaders lead by more than six points,
the last of those coming at 60-54 with 4:53 left.
Cannon led all scorers
with 17 points, and also dished eight assists in her 38 minutes of
playing time. For the tournament, Cannon averaged 16.3 points and
7.0 assists per game.
Cannon, the first
player from a losing team to win Tournament MVP honors in six
years, was joined on the all-tournament team by freshman forward
Elisha Turek
(Council Bluffs, Iowa) who recorded her third straight
double-double in tourney play and 12th of the season
with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Langford had 12 points, six
rebounds and two steals.
Cannon finishes the
2003-04 season with 231 assists, setting new ORU and Mid-Con marks.
Turek ends with 449 points and 280 rebounds, the highest season
rebound total by an ORU freshman and the 5th-highest
total in school history.
--ORU--
