ROCHESTER, Mich. �€" ORU and Oakland found themselves
in a tight battle for the second time in eight days, but this time
the Golden Eagles came out on top with a 55-54 win over the Golden
Grizzlies in Mid-Con action at the O'Rena, Monday night.
The Golden Eagles (14-11, 8-6) trailed by one, 54-53, with under a
minute to play, but freshman point guard Marianna
Camargo (Blumenau, Brazil) knifed her way through the
Oakland defense and converted a lay up between three Golden
Grizzlies to give ORU the lead for good at 55-54 with just :40
remaining.
The home squad had four opportunities to take the lead back in the
final 21 seconds, including a Jayme Wilson desperation three at the
buzzer, but failed to convert each time as the Golden Eagles held
on for the win.
Camargo finished the night tied for the team lead with 13 points to
go along with six assists, three rebounds, and two steals while
playing all 40 minutes.
ORU finished the road portion of their Mid-Con schedule 6-2,
establishing a new school mark for conference wins away from the
Mabee Center.
The Golden Eagles took an early 3-0 lead on a Sarah
Davidson (New South Wales, Australia) bomb but went ice
cold over the next five minutes as the Golden Grizzlies (12-13,
8-6) used a 12-0 spurt to take a 12-3 advantage. The visitors
battled back, however, using an 8-0 run of their own to cut the
deficit to 18-17 on a Camargo steal and lay up with 5:07 to play
before the half.
Oakland pushed their lead back out to five points, 29-24, entering
intermission.
The Golden Grizzlies looked poised to run away with things early in
the second stanza, taking a 39-30 lead on an Anne Hafeli
three-point basket at the 11:05 mark. But the Golden Eagles refused
to quit, answering with a 9-0 run to tie the game at 39-39.
The two teams battled back and forth over the game's final 8:25,
answering each other basket for basket and totaling six ties and
nine lead changes before the clock registered all zeroes. Camargo
came up big down the stretch for ORU, as she either scored or had
the assist on four of the team's five baskets over the final
5:32.
The Golden Eagles shot 42.3 percent from the floor for the game but
upped that percentage to 56.3 percent on shots from long range.
Oakland connected on 41.2 percent of their attempts, including a
paltry 12.5 percent from behind the arc. ORU also turned 11
offensive boards into a 17-7 advantage on second chance points.
Elisha Turek (Council Bluffs, Iowa) added 13
points and eight boards for the Golden Eagles, while Davidson
knocked down all three of her attempts from long range en route to
nine points. Jenny Hardin (Claremore, Okla.)
chipped in with six points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
Wilson had a game-high 17 points and seven rebounds for OU while
Hafeli added 12 tallies.
The Golden Eagles will close out the regular season with a two-game
home stand, beginning with a contest against Centenary at 2:05 p.m.
on Saturday afternoon. That game can be seen live on TV in Tulsa on
KGEB 53 (Cox Cable channel 23).
--ORU--
