TULSA,
Okla. �€" Oral Roberts University
women�€™s basketball team led by as many as seven
in the second half, but dropped their conference opener to
Valparaiso, 57-54, Saturday afternoon at the Mabee Center.
Jenny Hardin (Claremore, Okla.) led ORU (9-5, 0-1
Mid-Con) with 17 points going 4-for-13 from the field and collected
eight boards in 35 minutes of work; while Elisha
Turek (Council Bluffs, Iowa) finished with 10 points and
nine rebounds.
Valparaiso (7-7, 1-0 Mid-Con) came out of the gates hot from the
floor opening up a 9-2 lead. After ORU scored the first basket of
the game the Crusaders responded with nine straight points capped
by a basket from Tamra Braun. Braun finished with 13 points and 10
rebounds.
The
Golden Eagles clawed back into the game on a 3-pointer by
Rachel Watman (Sydney, Australia). The trey put
ORU on top 15-13 with 7:07 to play in the first half. The two teams
traded baskets for the next five minutes before ORU closed the
first half with a 5-0 run in the final minute for the 31-28
halftime lead.
ORU�€™s momentum carried over into the second
half as the Golden Eagles opened their largest lead at 37-30, off a
lay-in by Hardin at 18:10.
After a
made field goal by Katie Langford (Arthurton,
Australia) for a 46-41 ORU lead, Valpo realed off 10 straight
points over the course of the next 4:50 to take a 51-48 advantage.
A lead the Crusaders would not surrender.
A
3-point play by Hardin at 2:03 cut the ORU deficit to one. After a
pair of miss shots by Valpo�€™s Aimee Litke and
Betsy Rietema, Langford had a triple go in-and-out from the
baseline that would of give the Golden Eagles the lead with 1:03
remaining.
Valparaiso�€™s Agnieszka Kulaga made one-of-two
free throws with 19 seconds left to push the lead to 56-54. After
Kulaga missed the second from the charity stripe, ORU pushed the
ball down the court quickly but Mariana Camargo
(Blumenau, Brazil) turned the ball over.
ORU had
one more chance to send the game into overtime after a one-for-two
effort by Valpo�€™s Rietema, Hardin found
Sarah Davidson (New South Wales, Australia) on the
baseline but her last second 3-pointer bounced off the rim.
The
Crusaders were led in scoring by Betsy Rietema with 16 points on
4-for-13 shooting.
ORU
returns to action on Monday hosting Mid-Con opponent Western
Illinois at 7:05 p.m. at the Mabee Center.
-ORU-
