Grizzlies knocked out by ORU

By Tim Rath
Contributing Reporter

*Note: due to http://www.oaklandpostonline.com/ being down, the semi-final stories will be posted here.

TULSA, Okla. --The Oakland University women’s basketball team fell to Oral Roberts 71-61 in the semi-finals of the Summit League Championship Tournament on Monday, but head coach Beckie Francis is already looking forward to her next encounter with ORU’s Jerry Finkbeiner.

“We just love having these games,” she said of the Golden Eagles head coach. “(Oakland) is coming back next year, and we hope to even it out. We have our whole team back, he has his whole team back.”

Oral Roberts established control of the tempo early on when they turned OU turnovers into three-pointers. The Grizzlies totaled 20 turnovers for the game, which Oral Roberts turned into 26 points.

Oral Roberts secured a 17-point lead with 5:05 left to play in the first half, 36-19, and managed the same advantage until 1:46 remained. The Grizzlies then went on a 7-0 run, capped by a three-pointer by junior guard Jessica Pike with seven seconds left in the first half to trim the lead to 10 points, 40-30.

OU left halftime inspired, and quickly managed to trim the lead to six two minutes into the half after a three-point play from freshman forward Brittany Carnego.

However, Oral Roberts once again managed to clamp down on defense and convert mistakes into three-pointers, culminating with a Jenae Voelker jump shot to extend the lead to 16, 54-38, with 14:32 left to play. Oakland began to eat away at that lead, and drew within nine after a three-pointer from Pike capped off a 7-0 run with 8:12 to play.

Pike continued a desperate, furious rally with three more three-point bombs that cut the lead to three, 63-60, with 3:48 left to play. Turnovers and fouls killed the Grizzlies’ momentum after that. Oral Roberts only allowed one more point for the rest of the contest, and pushed its lead to as many as ten to finish the contest after a free throw shooting parade.

The upset defeat marks the second consecutive season in which the Grizzlies’ season has ended in Tulsa, at the hands of Oral Roberts.

According to Francis, playing in their own backyard gave the Golden Eagles a distinct advantage against OU. “Last year, they closed school and brought the entire town,” she said. “Maybe I shouldn’t be saying this, but… I do think the home crowd helps.”

Also adding to the Grizzlies’ troubles were a rash of injuries, headlined by the broken foot of Hanna Reising. The starting sophomore forward missed the last five games of the regular season and could only manage eight minutes against Oral Roberts.

“She tried to go out there and play, but she hadn’t practiced in three weeks,” Francis said. “She hurt us because (Oral Roberts) were so focused on Pike.”

Pike led the Grizzlies in the losing effort with 18 points, four assists, and eight rebounds, while junior guard April Kidd added 12 points and eight boards. Pike’s 18 pushed her career total past 1,000 and to 1,003.

“We rushed our shots,” Pike said of OU’s 36 percent shooting. “We didn’t really run our offense.”