TULSA, Okla. �€" The Oral Roberts University defense
was in full effect Monday night, limiting Valparaiso to just 31
points �€" the lowest total ever by a Mid-Con opponent
�€" on 24.0 percent shooting as the Golden Eagles
clinched the #3 seed in this weekend's Toshiba Mid-Continent
Conference Tournament with a 53-31 win over the Crusaders in front
of 1126 fans at the Mabee Center.
Elisha Turek (Council Bluffs, Iowa) led the Golden
Eagles with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and five steals, as she
registered the 35th double-double of her career. Turek now has 807
career boards, making her just the second player in school history
to reach the 800-rebound plateau.
Leah Cannon (Adelaide, Australia), one of four
seniors to play in their last game at the Mabee Center, added a
team-high four assists to bring her career total to 600
helpers.
ORU (16-11, 10-6) never trailed in the contest as Marianna
Camargo (Blumenau, Brazil) scored the teams first nine
points to give the Golden Eagles a 9-2 advantage just 5:09 into the
ball game. Turek used an offensive put back to extend the lead to
10 points, 14-4, but Valpo (15-12, 9-6) fought back and closed the
gap to 18-14 on a Sanna Helenius lay up with 5:18 to go before the
break.
The Golden Eagle defense took over from there, limiting the
Crusaders to 1-of-8 shooting the rest of the half, as they
out-scored their opponents 7-2 over that span to take a 25-16 lead
into intermission. Valpo turned the ball over eight times during
the first stanza, and the home squad converted them into an extra
12 points.
The ORU defensive pressure became absolutely stifling in the second
half as the Crusaders shot just 18.5 percent (5-27) from the floor,
including a 1-for-10 effort from behind the three-point line. The
Golden Eagles, however, showed no signs of slowing down
offensively.
A Rachel Watman (Sydney, Australia) bomb increased
their lead to 19 points, 44-25, at the 5:57 mark and almost three
minutes later a Turek bucket ignited a 9-0 ORU run that gave them
their largest lead of the game at 24 points, 53-29.
The Golden Eagles shot 45.8 percent (22-28) from the field on the
night, including a 50.0 percent (11-22) showing in the second
half.
Camargo finished the night with a game-high 15 points, while
Jenny Hardin (Claremore, Okla.) had 10 points,
eight rebounds, and four assists.
ORU will now take on #6 seed Oakland in the first round of this
weekend's Mid-Con tournament in a 2:30 game on Sunday afternoon at
the John Q. Hammons Arena at the UMAC in Tulsa.
--ORU--
Game Notes: This year's third place Mid-Con
regular season finish is the Golden Eagles highest since placing
second during the 2000-01 campaign �€¦ In
addition to Cannon, tonight marked the last home game for
Tiffany Johnson, Claudia Pereira, and Julia West
�€¦ Before tonight, the fewest points ORU had
ever allowed in a Mid-Con contest was 34 against UMKC on Jan. 27,
2001 at the Mabee Center �€¦ Valpo's 24.0%
percent shooting was the lowest by an opponent since the Golden
Eagles limited Western Illinois to 21.4% in the semifinals of last
year's Mid-Con tournament �€¦ Turek's 12-point
outing moved her into 13th place on the Mid-Con's all-time scoring
list with 1,463 points.
