Eagles fall at home - Tulsa World (1-9-2007)

[ORUTerry]

Eagles fall at home

by LYNN JACOBSEN World Sports Writer

1/9/2007

Hardin and Turek combine for 8-of-21 from the field.

Homecourt advantage and being selected preseason favorites have become a curse for the Oral Roberts women's basketball team.

The Golden Eagles (9-6 overall) suffered their second consecutive setback at the Mabee Center to drop to the bottom of the league standings at 0-2.

Compounding the frustration is the fact that both losses came against teams without winning records.

Western Illinois limited ORU to just four points in the final 8:12 to earn a 44-41 win Monday night.

"We really backed off that first six minutes, we weren't aggressive," Western Illinois coach Leslie Crane said. "I told the team at halftime I didn't know if they could play any worse.

"Night-in and night-out you have to be ready to play in this conference. That's not being negative, it's a battle every single night. With the preseason we've had, I think it prepared us for a game like tonight."

For the second straight game, ORU had an open look from 3-point range that would have tied the game in the waning seconds and missed.

"After Saturday's game (57-54 loss to Valparaiso), I was upset about our lack of emotion," ORU coach Jerry Finkbeiner said. "Tonight, that wasn't the case. It just didn't go in the hoop. We've shot terrible the last two games.

"I would have never thought in a million years we would be 0-for-2 to start the conference."

Western Illinois played man defense and challenged ORU to beat them on the perimeter.

Instead, the Golden Eagles managed just 3-for-19 shooting from 3-point range. The lack of a perimeter game allowed Western Illinois to collapse down on the league's top two scorers, Jenny Hardin and Elisha Turek.

They combined for 8-of-21 from the field. Hardin had the better night, going 7-for-14 for 14 points.

Behind her early eight points on 4-for-4 field goals in the first 6:07, it looked as though ORU would run Western Illinois (5-10 and 2-0) out of the gym. Hardin finished 3-for-10 in the final 33:53.

Turek hit just 1-of-7 field goals for a career-low two points, but she did grab 12 rebounds.

"We're going through a little bit of a slump right now," said Hardin. "We just got to find a way to win. We didn't take advantage of early chip shots and it cost us."

Finkbeiner said the perimeter game must come around.

"They're sagging so much on Elisha and our guards just aren't opening the defense up," said the coach. "It was just one of those odd nights in basketball. We just missed a lot of open shots."

ORU looks to regroup at the University of Missouri-Kansas City on Saturday.

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Lynn Jacobsen 581-8461

lynn.jacobsen@tulsaworld.com