NCAA Women: Nerves disrupt ORU in loss to Purdue (TW 3-19-2007)

[ORUTerry]

NCAA Women: Nerves disrupt ORU in loss to Purdue

Tulsa World Link

by JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer

3/19/2007

MINNEAPOLIS -- Playing in the NCAA Tournament, especially against such a hammer-and-anvil ballclub like Purdue, was probably a bit of a shock for the Oral Roberts women's basketball team.

That's why coach Jerry Finkbeiner believes now is the time to do it again.

"It has been a good run for these seniors: three Mid-Con championship games, two NCAA Tournaments," Finkbei ner said. "But I challenge our girls right now. We've been four times in the last eight years, but we need to come back as repeat champions.

"We had two seniors that played two years ago a lot of minutes, but we had nine girls (for whom) this was a first-time experience. This was really like a new team coming in. We've got to get our girls back next year and be a repeat player, and I think things may be a little less shock value for us and maybe a little more smoothness to start the game."

ORU fell behind early to the No. 2-seed Boilermakers and lost 63-42, finishing the season with a 22-11 record.

The Eagles made a season-low 1-of-12 shots from 3-point range, missed their first five free throws, connected on 35 percent of their field goal attempts and finished more than 26 points below their season average.

"I don't know if we were just nervous -- I mean, I don't think I felt the pressure," said sophomore Jenny Hardin, who went 1-for-4 from the line but scored 10 points. "It might have been just the toughness of the game got to us."

Finkbeiner did see some jangled nerves, especially early on.

"We had to shoot the ball well from the 3, and 1-for-12 might have been our worst game of the year," he said (1-for-10 was the previous low). "I think that was some tightness, some jitters."

Finkbeiner acknowledged that his team was a significant underdog going in.

"I'd probably underline the margin of error was very, very small," he said, "and that margin of error probably went out the window about seven minutes into the game."

Purdue, he said, is the best team ORU has played in his 11 seasons -- better than the 1999 Purdue team that dispatched the Golden Eagles 68-48 in the tournament opener, finished 34-1 and won the national championship.

ORU loses six seniors, including Elisha Turek, three-time first-team All-Mid-Continent Conference forward. Turek had 16 points and 11 rebounds, her 19th double-double of the season and the 55th of her career. She finishes her career with 2,054 points (third all-time in the Mid-Con and third at ORU) and 1,167 rebounds (first in the Mid-Con and first at ORU).

"Obviously we came up here thinking we were going to win and we were going to make some noise," Turek said.

"Yeah, it's disappointing not to win, but they're a good team and they played well," she said.

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John E. Hoover 581-8384

john.hoover@tulsaworld.com