ORU holds off Valpo, will also face Oakland - TW (3-6-2007)

[ORUTerry]

ORU holds off Valpo, will also face Oakland

Story Link

.

by LYNN JACOBSEN World Sports Writer

3/6/2007

Valparaiso brought out the best in Oral Roberts on Monday.

Led by Rachel Watman's career-high 19 points, the third-seeded Golden Eagles sent the Crusaders packing with a 69-63 victory in the Mid-Continent Conference women's semifinals at the Union Multipurpose Activity Center.

With the win, ORU avenges two regular season losses to Valparaiso and moves to the finals for the fifth time overall in search of their four title and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The Golden Eagles (21-10) will face top-seed Oakland (19-11) at 12:30 p.m. at the UMAC. The game will be shown live on ESPNU-253.

"We executed better today than on Sunday but we had to," ORU coach Jerry Finkbeiner said.

Punctuating the victory Monday was a wide-open layup by Mariana Camargo with 1:34 remaining.

The ORU point guard looked to pass then was startled to see that Valpo didn't rotate players, leaving her a wide-open look.

"My first thought was yippee, that was the only easy basket we had all day," Finkbeiner said.

When the 11th-year Golden Eagles coach looked into his player's eyes at halftime, after they had blown an early 16-point lead, he knew there would be no second-half letdown.

"I felt like they had that fighting spirit defensively," he said. "That was our mainstay. They just brought out the best in us." ORU survived early foul trouble in the low post as Elisha Turek, Claremore graduate Jenny Hardin and Janae Voelker were each saddled with a couple of early fouls.

With Turek drawing a double-team in the first half, ORU looked for the open player, usually it was Watman.

"They did a great job on Elisha in the first half," Finkbeiner said. "She stumbled a little and forced some shots. We started to move the ball around and other players responded."

Turek recorded her 53rd career double-double and 17th of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Hardin added 16 points and Camargo had 13 to give ORU four players in double figures.

ORU held Valpo (20-11) to 39 percent field goal shooting for the game and just 27 percent for the first half.

Betsy Rietema scored 21 of her 25 game-high points in the second half and brought the Crusaders back from an eight-point, second-half deficit.

She scored nine points in a span of three minutes to forge a 56-56 tie with 4:33 remaining.

But ORU outscored Valpo 13-7 down the stretch for the victory.

Finkbeiner called a timeout following Rietema's game-tying score.

"I challenged Mariana and Janae," he said. "I told those two not to give her anything. I told them to figure it out.

Turek agreed.

"We (the players) talked about locking up," she said.

Tamra Braun, who came in averaging 9.5 points for the Crusaders, struggled to finish with seven.

The Golden Eagles also did a nice job shutting down Carrie Myers on the perimeter. She got loose for two quick 3s to start the game, but hit just one more the rest of the way.

"I told our players I wanted to know what kind of gum she chews," Finkbeiner said.

Clearly, the day belonged to Watman.

"I felt confident," she said. "My shot was good."

ORU and Oakland have played two close games.

The Grizzlies rallied in the final 50 seconds to defeat ORU 68-64 in overtime at the Mabee Center while the Golden Eagles overcame a late deficit to win 60-57 in Rochester, Mich.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lynn Jacobsen 581-8461

lynn.jacobsen@tulsaworld.com