TULSA,
Okla. �€" Rachel Watman (Sydney,
Australia) scored a career-high 19 points to lead Oral Roberts
University to a 69-63 victory over Valparaiso in the Mid-Continent
Conference Semifinals on Monday afternoon at the UMAC.
ORU
(21-10) took an 8-5 lead at the 14:49 mark after a Watman 3-pointer
and never trailed as the Golden Eagles advanced to their first
conference championship game since 2005.
The
Golden Eagles went on a 20-4 run in the first half to open up their
largest lead at 25-9 with 6:57 to play. Jenny
Hardin (Claremore, Okla.) scored seven points off the
bench to help spur ORU during the run.
Valpo
(20-11) fought back as they closed the first half on a 12-2 run in
the final 5:17. The Golden Eagles led 29-24 at halftime.
ORU�€™s defense swarmed to the ball in the first
half forcing Valpo to shoot just 27.3 percent from the floor
(6-of-22) while the Crusaders went 8-of-13 from the charity stripe.
The Golden Eagles went 10-of-23 from the floor (43.5 percent).
Valpo�€™s Sarah Ott scored the first bucket of
the second half to draw the Crusaders within three at the 18:22
mark. Although Janae Voelker (Newton, Kan.) was
held scoreless in the first half but drained a jumper with 10:17
left to increase ORU�€™s lead to 50-40.
Betsy
Rietema then went to work for the Crusaders. The forward was held
to four points in the first half but found her stroke in the
second. She scored eight straight points and then drained a trey at
the 4:34 mark to tie the game at 56-56.
Elisha Turek (Council Bluffs, Iowa) put the Golden
Eagles back ahead as ORU did not trail for the rest of the
game.
Mariana Camargo (Blumenau, Brazil) scored on wide
open lay-up with 1:35 to play to increase ORU�€™s
lead to six. Clutch free throw shooting down the stretch for the
Golden Eagles put away Valpo.
Camargo
and Watman went a combined 6-for-7 in the final minute to increase
the advantage to nine, 69-60.
Four
different Golden Eagles scored in double-digits. Hardin finished
with 16 points off the bench on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor
while Turek recorded her 53rd double-double of her
career and 17th this season. The senior scored 11 points
and grabbed 12 rebounds. Camargo added 13 points, going 4-for-4
from the charity stripe.
Rietema
led Valparaiso with a game-high 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting.
ORU
will return to action tomorrow in the championship game against
Oakland. Tip is set to start at 12:30 p.m. and will be broadcasted
nationally on ESPNU.
-ORU-
