TULSA,
Okla. �€" Jenny Hardin (Claremore,
Okla.) scored a game-high 24 points as the Golden Eagles raced out
to an 18-4 lead and never looked back en route to an 88-46 victory
over Southern at the Mabee Center on Wednesday afternoon.
With
the win, the Golden Eagles (4-0) are now off to their best start in
24 years. The 1982-83 team won their first 25 games before
finishing the season 26-1.
Hardin
led ORU in scoring for the second time this week as she hit 8-of-13
field goals, including a career-high 5-of-7 from long range. In
addition to her 24 tallies, Hardin also added six rebounds, three
steals, and a pair of assists in just 25 minutes of work.
Elisha Turek (Council Bluffs, Iowa) chipped in
with 19 points, on 8-of-11 shooting, and a game-best seven rebounds
while playing just 23 minutes on the afternoon.
The
Golden Eagles came out on fire in the game�€™s
early going, hitting seven of their first 10 shots and led by an
18-4 margin just 6:32 into the ballgame. Hardin and Turek were a
combined 4-of-5 from the field in that stretch accounting for 11 of
the 18 tallies.
Southern (0-4) never had a chance to rally as ORU led by
double-digits for all but 0:17 the rest of the way.
The
Golden Eagles led by 14 points, 35-21, with under 1:30 to play in
the half when back-to-back buckets by Turek and Katie
Langford (Arthurton, Australia) sparked a 9-2 spurt giving
ORU a 44-23 lead heading into the break.
Langford would go on to finish the afternoon with 12 points and
three assists.
Things
continued to snowball after halftime when a Hardin three capped a
9-2 run that gave the Golden Eagles their largest lead of the day
at 60-27. ORU didn�€™t let the Jaguars any
closer than 32 points over the final 11:11 while leading by as many
as 40 on two occasions before a Kelly Kindell
(Schulter, Okla.) lay-up gave them their largest lead - and the
game�€™s final tally - at 88-46.
The
Golden Eagles shot 52.2 percent (35-67) as a team, including a 33.3
clip (8-24) from long range. Southern, meanwhile, managed to hit
just 34.1 percent (15-44) of their field goals with a 28.6 percent
(2-7) total from behind the arc.
ORU
held a 40-21 advantage on the glass while outscoring the Jaguars
42-16 in the paint. The Golden Eagles also forced 22 turnovers,
turning them into an extra 30 points.
Mariana Camargo (Blumenau, Brazil) added nine
points and a career-high 10 assists for ORU, while Alycia
Seay (Big Cabin, Okla.) came off the bench to register
seven points, five boards, and two blocks in just 12 minutes of
action.
Diedra
Jackson led Southern with 15 points, and teammate Ashley Blake
added 10 points and six rebounds.
The
Golden Eagles will visit #25 Texas on Saturday in a rematch of
their 2005 NCAA Tournament opening round game. The two teams will
square off in a 2:00 p.m. tip at the Erwin Center.
-ORU-
