ORUTerry Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Purdue boils Golden Eagles in first round Tulsa World Link by JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer 3/18/2007 MINNEAPOLIS -- Oral Roberts' basketball teams expect a miracle, but it might have taken more than that this time. No. 2-seed Goliath -- aka Purdue -- was on its game, and the 15th-seeded Golden Eagle women, playing the role of David, looked nervous, apparently didn't bring their slingshot and never stood a chance. Final score: Boilermakers 63, Golden Eagles 42. A Williams Arena crowd of 2,810 watched as Purdue -- bigger, taller, more physical and making its 14th consecutive NCAA appearance -- won its eighth in a row behind 16 points and nine rebounds from Lindsay Wisdom-Hilton, 11 points from All-American candidate Katie Gearlds and 10 from point guard FahKarah Malone. "They are a lot better in person than they are on tape," ORU coach Jerry Finkbeiner said. "They are probably the best team we've played. Ever since I've been here." ORU, making its fourth NCAA trip, was led by Elisha Turek (16 points and 11 rebounds, her 16th double-double of the season) and Jenny Hardin (10 points). ORU ends the season 22-11. Purdue, 29-5, advances to Monday's second round, where the Boilermakers will face Georgia Tech, which defeated DePaul 55-54 earlier Saturday. The Golden Eagles' loss makes 15-seeds 0-54 in NCAA Tournament games since the field was expanded to 64 in 1994. It was ORU's fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last nine seasons, and its fourth exit without a victory. ORU lost first-round games at Purdue in 1999, at Oklahoma in 2001 and to Texas in Dallas in 2005. It was also ORU's largest margin of defeat in four NCAA trips, eclipsing the 20-point loss to the Boilermakers in '99. The Golden Eagles did exactly what Finkbeiner said they couldn't do when they fell behind 13-2 in the first seven minutes and 21-4 in the first 11. ORU played slow, deliberate offense, taking each possession inside the 10-second mark on the shot clock, but still scored on just one of its first eight possessions. The Boilermakers scored on five of their first nine offensive trips, including 3-pointers by Malone and Jodi Howell. Purdue led by as many as 19 in the first half, and led 35-17 at the break. Its largest lead was 26 points (58-32) with 4:40 to play. Turek, ORU's leading scorer the last three seasons, averaged 17.2 points and 10.5 rebounds this season, but touched the ball just four times in the first 10 minutes (she was 0-for-2 from the field with a turnover). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John E. Hoover 581-8384 john.hoover@tulsaworld.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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