Oakland no match for Oral Roberts on Senior Night
BY TIMOTHY PONTZER
STUDENT CORRESPONDENT
ROCHESTER HILLS — Oral Roberts moved to within one game in the win column of league leader South Dakota State in the Summit League women’s basketball standings Monday night — at Oakland University’s expense.
The Golden Eagles ruined Oakland’s Senior Night celebration for Brittany Carnago and Sharise Calhoun, rolling to a lopsided, 77-51, victory over the Golden Grizzlies at the Athletics Center O’rena.
“The best thing that happened for us tonight is that these two seniors were honored,” said Oakland head coach Beckie Francis. “We made some poor decisions with the ball, but that’s what happens against their zone with a young team.”
Junior Bethany Watterworth led Oakland (11-14, 7-9) with 20 points, as the Grizzlies slipped into a fifth-place tie in the Summit League with IUPUI and Western Illinois. Sophomore Victoria Lipscomb added 12 points for OU.
Oral Roberts (19-9, 13-4) must win out and have South Dakota State lose its last two games in order to gain a share of the regular season crown. The Golden Eagles will finish at Southern Utah on Saturday.
Oral Roberts led 39-26 at the half. The Golden Eagles began the second half on a 13-3 run and never looked back.
Kevi Luper scored 27 points to lead the visitors, on a 44.8 percent shooting night. Three ORU players reached double-digits with Bernadett Balla scoring 16 and Georgia Jones adding 14 points and five assists for the Golden Eagles.
“(Luper) is one of the top players in the country, she led the nation in scoring last year, and they have a nice combination of three guards of (Luper), (Georgia) Jones, and (Jaci) Bigham,” Francis said. “It was especially hard without Zakiya Minifee, who locked them up last year in the tournament.”
Lipscomb hit a career-high three 3-pointers and grabbed a team-best seven rebounds for the Golden Grizzlies, which shot just 28.8 percent from the field. Oakland also committed 20 turnovers against the ORU zone. With her 20-point effort, Watterworth moved into 11th on Oakland’s all-time scoring list with 1,460 career points.
“It was just one of those nights where we didn’t shoot the ball very well,” noted Francis. “We had six players that were a combined 0-15 from the floor, and only five players made a shot. You cannot win a basketball game that way.
They slow you up with their zone defense, and you can get passive and then you have only 15 seconds to run your offense,” Francis continued. “It’s a very good strategy, it’s why they win a lot of games, and it takes youthful teams used to attacking that kind of defense.”
For the OU seniors, Carnago scored seven points and had three blocks, bringing her Oakland career blocks record to 271. Calhoun scored three points and had six rebounds to go with two assists. Both players thanked their teammates and coaches in a heartfelt ceremony after the game.
“It was just one of those nights where we didn’t shoot the ball very well,” Francis said. “We had six players that were a combined 0-15 from the floor, and only five players made a shot. You cannot win a basketball game that way.”
“I can’t pick just one memory from this court,” said Carnago, a fifth-year senior. “I will always remember the hours of blood, sweat and tears poured out in this gym with my teammates.”
“There are so many great memories from this building that I want to hang on to,” echoed Calhoun. “For me though, I think it will be hard to top the shot against UIC.”
“I’ve had a lot wonderful memories, from all of the summer workouts with the blood, sweat, and tears to the time we beat Florida State, a top 25 team my freshman year,” Carnago said. “It has had its ups and downs, but I will always remember playing here and what a wonderful experience I’ve had.
“We’re going to face them (Oral Roberts) in the tournament and take what we learned tonight and play better the next time we see them,” added Carnago.
The Golden Grizzlies dropped both games in the season series with Oral Roberts. It was the final regular season meeting between the teams, as ORU prepares to join the Southland Conference next season.
Oakland will complete regular season play on the road facing third-place South Dakota on Saturday at the Dakotadome at 8 p.m. ET., and on Monday, Feb. 27 at fourth-place UMKC.
(Timothy Pontzer is a freshman at Oakland University, a graduate of Auburn Hills Oakland Christian High School, and a staff writer for the Oakland Post student newspaper at OU. He can be reached by e-mail at theintimidator@juno.com)
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