Today�€™s Game

Tonight�€™s match-up marks the 30th all-time installment of the Mayor�€™s Cup ... both teams enter the early season showdown with unbeaten records ... the Golden Eagles are looking for just their second 3-0 start in the last 11 seasons ... ORU also started the 2004-05 campaign 3-0 ... this is the second game for the Golden Eagles in a stretch of four games in eight days ... they beat Central Arkansas on Saturday and will host Southern Wednesday afternoon before closing the run with a Saturday tilt at Texas ... Elisha Turek enters today needins 21 points to move into 9th place on the Mid-Con�€™s career scoring chart ... six rebounds will move her into the league�€™s all-time Top 5.



The Coaches

ORU head coach enters his 11th season at the helm of the Golden Eagle program. Already the school�€™s all-time wins leader, Finkbeiner has amassed a 157-134 (.536) record at ORU while also holding a 356-168 (.678) overall mark in 18 total seasons as a head coach. Tulsa is under their second year under the direction of head coach Charlene Thomas-Swinson, who has a 52-67 record in 4+ seasons as a head coach. She�€™s totaled a 28-6 mark with the Golden Hurricane and lead them to the NCAA Tournament last season - her first as head coach.

The Opponent

Tulsa enters tonight�€™s contest with a 2-0 record after opening the season with a pair of home victories. They started the year with a 67-54 win over Southeast Missouri before topping South Alabama by a 60-55 count on Friday night. Jillian Robbins, who was recently named to the John L. Wooden Award Watch List, has led the Golden Hurricane in both points and rebounds in each of their wins and currently averages 25.0 points and 13.5 rebounds each time out. Tandem Mays is second on the team in both points (14.0) and assists (2.5), while Jamie Dreiling comes off the bench to add 6.0 ppg and 4.5 rpg. Tulsa was picked second in the preseason C-USA poll with Robbins picking up preseason Player of the Year honors. The team was ranked 25th in the CBS Sportsline preseason poll and is currently receiving votes in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches�€™ Poll.

The Series

ORU holds a commanding 24-5 lead in the all-time series bewteen these two teams, including a 13-1 mark in games played at the Mabee Center. The Golden Hurricane have held the upper hand in recent meetings, claiming victory in each of the last three seasons as well as four of the last five overall. The two teams last last year at the Reyonald�€™s Center with Tulsa taking an 88-73 victory. The last ORU win came during the 2002-03 season, a 74-66 Golden Eagle win at the Mabee Center. Coach Fink is 3-5 against TU since taking over the ORU program prior to the 1996-97 season.



ORU vs. Conference USA

The Golden Eagles enter tonight with a 39-24 all-time record against opponents from Conference USA, including a 6-6 mark under the direction of Coach Fink. In addition to their 24-5 series lead over Tulsa, ORU also owns winning records against UTEP (8-2) and Southern Methodist (4-3). They have also faced off against Houston (1-2), Memphis (2-8), Rice (0-1), Southern Miss (0-1), and Tulane (0-2). The Golden Eagles last game against a C-USA foe other than Tulsa came against Memphis in the champioship round of the 2004 Fun in the Sun Shootout. Elisha Turek had 23 points and a career-high 19 rebounds in that one, earning tournament MVP honors in leading ORU to a 87-79 win over the Tigers.



Last Time Out

CONWAY, Ark.�€"Four players scored in double figures and Oral Roberts University shot 65 percent from the field as the Golden Eagles routed Central Arkansas 93-59, Saturday night at the Ferris Center. Elisha Turek led all scorers with 21 points. Turek, who made her first six field goal attempts, finished 10-of-11 from the field, and also added nine rebounds, two assists and a steal in only 19 minutes of playing time.

Mariana Camargo and Jenny Hardin each scored 15 points. Camargo was 7-of-8 from the field and added four assists, while Hardin was 6-of-12 from the field with eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. Sarah Davidson scored 10 points in only six minutes off the bench.

The Golden Eagles (2-0) led wire-to-wire. After turning the ball over six times on its first 10 possessions, Central Arkansas (0-3) settled down and tied the game at 16-16 on a layup by Renita Dobbins with 12:18 left in the half. But the Sugar Bears never got closer than two points the rest of the night. ORU went on a 13-0 run following Dobbins�€™ basket, grabbing a 29-16 lead on a Camargo layup with 7:20 left in the half.

ORU led 43-23 at halftime.

The Golden Eagles continued to pour it on in the second half. A short jumper by Charity Czerwinski made it 64-33 with 10:54 to play, and Czerwinski�€™s layup 25 seconds later made it 66-33. ORU pushed the lead to as many as 37 points when Kelly Kindell drained the second of consecutive 3-pointers to give the Golden Eagles an 87-50 lead with 3:25 left.

Dobbins led Central Arkansas with 14 points. The Sugar Bears shot 32.8 percent from the field and turned it over 30 times.

Turek Voted Mid-Con Preseason Player of the Year

The same poll voted the Golden Eagles�€™ Elisha Turek as the Mid-Con�€™s Preseason Player of the Year as she received the most first team all-conference talleis. Turek has earned first team all-conference accolades in each of her first three seasons, setting the table to become the first Mid-Con player to do it four times since Oakland�€™s Katie Wolfe did it from 1999-2003. She was also named to the preseason all-conference first team, while teammate received preseason second team honors.

Highest Mid-Con Finish in Five Years

The Golden Eagles finished the 2005-06 regular season with a fl urry, winning eight of their last 10 Mid-Con games including the fi nal four games of the year. The hot fi nish vaulted ORU into 3rd place in the Mid-Con�€™s final regular season standings, their highest since placing second during the 2000-01 campaign. The Golden Eagles clinched the league�€™s #3 seed by routing Valparaiso, 53-31, in their regular season fi nale. The Crusaders 31-point total was the lowest ever by an ORU opponent in Mid-Con play.



The Talented Miss Turek

Senior forward Elisha Turek has put together one of the top careers in ORU and Mid-Con history. A three-time first team all-conference selection, Turek currently ranks in ORU�€™s all-time Top 10 for both points and rebounds; while she is also beginning to climb the league�€™s all-time list in both categories as well. After leading the league in scoring and rebounding as a sophomore, Turek was back at the top again last season as she ended the year leading the Mid-Con in scoring (16.5) while placing third in rebounding (8.5). She currently owns 79 career double-digit scoring efforts, including 37 double-doubles performances.



Hardin Was Hardly a Freshman

Forward Jenny Hardin played more like a season vet than a freshman last season, ranking second on the team in both points (9.9) and rebounds (4.9). She scored a game-high 18 points as the Golden Eagles knocked off conference-leading Western Illinois, ending the Westerwinds NCAA best 46 game home court win streak. Hardin was also named to the Fun in the Sun Shootout�€™s All-Tournament team after leading ORU to a second place tournament finish. Hardin finished off the year by being named to the league�€™s all-newcomer team. She already started off her sophomore season on the right foot, earning preseason second-team all-conference honors.



Climbing The Charts

Despite just starting her senior campaign, Elisha Turek is already reaching the final rungs on both the ORU and Mid-Con�€™s all-time leader boards. Turek currently finds herself ranked 2nd on the school�€™s rebounding list, while ranking 6th in scoring as well. Meanwhile, she ranks 6th and 19th, respectively, on the conference charts. Turek needs just 159 more rebounds to set a new ORU career record, while 161 boards would established a new Mid-Con mark.



Lady of Steal

Despite the fact that she missed over half her junior season with injuries, Katie Langford has still managed to break into ORU�€™s all-time steals list just two games into her senior year. After totaling four swipes against Central Arkansas, Langford is currently tied with former Golden Eagle Kristen Brady with 145 career steals. She�€™s now stands three steals shy of Clauida Louis�€™ eighth place mark of 148.



Now that�€™s an Efficient Outing!

Chronic knee injuries keep Sarah Davidson from logging major minutes on a consistent basis, but that didn�€™t stop her from making a major impact at Central Arkansas. Davidson played just six minutes against the Sugar Bears yet registered 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. She also added three rebounds and an assist.



(Nearly) Perfect Night

Elisha Turek made the most of her minutes against Central Araknsas on Saturday night, scoring 21 points and grabbing nine rebounds in just 19 minutes of action. Turek nearly had a perfect night shooting, connecting on 10-of-11 shots from the field. She started the game by hitting her first six shots before missing a jumper at the 4:01 mark of the first half. That would be her only miss, however, as Turek hit each of her last four attempts en route to a game-high 21 points.



Foreign Talent

ORU has always had its share of foreign players on the roster, and the 2006-07 edition is no different. There are six international players on this season�€™s roster, including three from Brazil and three from Australia. The Golden Eagles also had six players from outside the United States on last year�€™s roster, which tied for the most among all NCAA Divison I women�€™s basketball teams. Jacksonville State, Oregon, Florida International, Long Island, and Utah are tied with ORU at atop the list.



ORU in the National Rankings

The Golden Eagles finished the 2005-06 season ranked nationally in several different statistical categories. ORU was 33rd the nation in steals per game (10.8), while ranking 63rd in 3-pt feild goals made (5.9). They also ranked in the Top 100 for assists per game (71st), scoring offense (75th), and field goald percentage (77th). The Golden Eagles 111-point performance against Jackson State (11/26) was the fourth highest point total by any single team, and their 15 three-point buckets at Southern Utah is tied for the eighth highest team mark this year. Marianna Camargo�€™s 10-steal outing against Wichita State (12/5) tied for the second most by any individual last season.



Finkbeiner Signs Four

ORU head coach Jerry Finkbeiner announced the signing of four players to National Letters-of-Intent during the first two days of the fall signing period. The players included Corrie Hester (Houston, Texas), Mona Pegorari (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Leanne Robinson (Ladonnia, Mo.), and Whitney Wehmeyer (Stockdale, Texas).

Hester, a 5�€™9" shooting guard out of Houston, is the #75 ranked senior in the state of Texas by texashoops.com. She comes to the Golden Eagles after playing for the HCYA Lady Warriors where she has averaged 13.9 points, 2.7 assists, and 2.5 steals per game over her first three varsity seasons. Hester also entertained offers from TCU and Rice.

Pegorari is the lone junior college transfer in this year�€™s class, coming to ORU from national power Labette Community College. During Pegorari�€™s freshman campaign , the Lady Cardinals won a school record 29 games and finished the year ranked 14th in the nation. The 6�€™3" center averaged 8.0 ppg and 6.6 rpg as Labette started the year 9-0, but a torn ACL limited her playing time the rest of the year.

Already a two-time all-state pick, Wehmeyer has led San Antonio area Poth High School to the state semifinals each of the last two years. The San Antonio Express-News called the 6�€™0" shooting guard "one of the state�€™s top players," after she averaged 20.1 points, six rebounds, three assists, and three steals as a junior. Wehmeyer chose ORU over TCU, SMU, Denver, and UTSA.

Robison, a 6�€™0" shooting guard, was a consensus first team all-state selection as a junior after averaging 21.3 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.7 steals, and 2.2 blocks per game for Community High School. Already the school�€™s all-time leading scorer with 1,252 career points, Robison chose ORU while also receiving offers from Missouri, Northwestern, Bradley, Southern Illinois, and Creighton.



Next Up

The Golden Eagles will be right back in action at the Mabee Center on Wednesday afternoon when they host 2006 NCAA Tournament participant Southern in a 1:00 p.m. matinee.