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ORU likely 15 seed - Tulsa World (3-12-2007)


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ORU likely 15 seed

by LYNN JACOBSEN World Sports Writer

3/12/2007

Two years ago the Oral Roberts women's basketball team was just happy to be in the NCAA Tournament.

This time the Golden Eagles (22-10) hope to stick around for a while.

ESPN's Bracketology, updated Sunday afternoon, pits 15-seed Oral Roberts against a familiar foe, second-seed Oklahoma at the Austin site, and is believed to begin on Saturday.

"I thought we might be a 15," ORU coach Jerry Finkbeiner said in a phone interview Saturday afternoon. "You can throw the 14, 15 and 16 seeds together. It's kind of a wash. Those teams play the top three seeds and there isn't much difference.

"I'd love to be in Austin. That would be the best-case scenario for us. It would allow our fans to travel with us."

The Golden Eagles closed out the regular season and conference tournament winning eight of their last nine games.

Finkbeiner could only wonder what if sophomore sensation and Claremore native Jenny Hardin hadn't missed 10 games with a broken foot.

"You wonder what might have been," the ORU coach said. "The conference tournament was the first time since December that we have had a full team. The last five or six games we have really gotten better with Jenny in the lineup. We ended the year where we thought we were in December."

The news isn't all great out of ORU. Freshman Janae Voelker, who came on late to play well, is out. She suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the 72-55 win over Oakland in the Mid-Continent Conference championship to earn the NCAA automatic bid.

"It hurts losing Janae, but our depth has improved," Finkbeiner said. "Without Janae, we no longer have the option to go with a three-post lineup."

Finkbeiner said any mid-major team faces an uphill struggle in the NCAA Tournament.

"Anytime you are a 14, 15 or 16 seed, you are going to face teams that are a little bigger and a little stronger," he said. "We'll go try and pull off a first-round upset."

Ironically, Finkbeiner pointed to a first-round game with Oklahoma a few years ago while talking about the David-vs.-Goliath theme during the game with Oakland.

"We had them down with two minutes to play (before losing 79-64), the coach said. "We will have to have a good shooting night."

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Lynn Jacobsen 581-8461

lynn.jacobsen@tulsaworld.com

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