The
Tip
The Golden Eagles, the
Mid-Continent Conference Preseason favorite, are searching for
their first conference victory today at UMKC at
4:00 p.m. tip time ... ORU lost their first two conference tilts
last weekend, losing 54-51 on Saturday against
Valparaiso and then dropping a 44-41 decision to Western Illinois
... ORU is 9-6 overall (0-2 Mid-Con) while
UMKC is 5-11 and 1-0 in league play, defeating Southern Utah last
Saturday, 64-48 ... For the first time
this season ORU will be anxious to play on the road after losing
their first two games at the Mabee Center this
season (7-2 overall) ... Saturday�€™s meeting
with UMKC will be the 35th game between these two squads ... The big
news this week is that ORU lost its leading scorer Jenny Hardin to
injury ... Hardin, also 1st in the
Mid-Con in scoring (17.2 ppg), will be out 4-6 weeks with a broken
foot.
The
Coaches
ORU head coach Jerry
Finkbeiner is in his 11th season at the helm of the Golden Eagle
program. Already the
school�€™s all-time wins leader, Finkbeiner has
amassed a 164-140 (.539) record at ORU while also holding
a 363-174 (.676)
overall mark in 18 total seasons as a head coach. On the other side
is first year interim head coach Candace White ...
White, who is in her third year with the program, replaced head
coach Bo Overton who resigned in December to
become the general manager and head coach of
WNBA�€™s Chicago Sky ... With White at the helm, UMKC has
gone 3-2.
Scouting
UMKC
UMKC enters
Saturday�€™s contest with the Golden Eagles with
a 5-11 overall record and a 1-0 Mid-Con record ... The Kangaroos have
picked up some steam as of late who are currently on a two-game
winning streak and have won three-of-five ...
UMKC struggled in the first two months of the season going 2-11,
with one of those wins against NAIA Oklahoma
Christian ... UMKC has played well at home, holding a 3-3 record
... UMKC�€™s Alysa Klein is the only
Kangaroo averaging in double-digits (11.9) but Stephanie Brown (9.7
ppg, 7.2 rpg) and Brittny Picconi (9.6)
are also scoring threats ... Brown was named Mid-Con Player of the
Week on Jan. 9 for averaging 16.6 points
and 8.5 rebounds in the two victories last
weekend.
ORU
vs UMKC
This is the 35th meeting
between ORU and UMKC with the series even at 17-17 ... ORU has
owned UMKC as of late though, winning the
last five-of-six in the series including two in a row away from
Tulsa ... Last year the season series was tied
at one a-piece with each team winning on the other
team�€™s home court ... The Golden Eagles defeated UMKC
in Kansas City on Feb. 18, 2006, 60-50 ... Then juniors Sarah
Davidson and Elisha Turek tallied 14 and
12 points respectively to lead the Golden Eagles to victory ...
Overall, the Kangaroos hold a 9-6 advantage in
games played at Kansas City.
To
read more about the game click on the link below.
