Oral Roberts 72, Oakland, Mich. 55

3/6/2007 2:43 PM

By JEFF LATZKE
AP Sports Writer

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -Elisha Turek scored 18 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead Oral Roberts into the NCAA tournament for the second time in three years with a 72-55 win against Oakland in the Mid-Conference tournament finals on Tuesday.

Oral Roberts (22-10) opened the second half with a 17-6 push that included three 3-pointers by Rachel Watman. Watman made a 3-pointer on the Golden Eagles' first possession after halftime and added two more before Sarah Davidson's 3-pointer stretched the lead to 53-41.

Oakland missed 15 of its first 18 shots in the second half before finally shaking out of it when Jessica Pike put back Riikka Terava's miss on a fast break and then fired in 3-pointer on the next trip to trim the deficit to 55-48.

The top-seeded Golden Grizzlies (19-12) got within 56-51 on Nicole Piggott's 3-pointer from the left side, but the team's leading scorer then went to the bench after picking up her first fourth foul on the next trip down with 5:41 remaining.

Oral Roberts, the No. 3 seed, responded with another surge, going up 64-53 on consecutive 3-pointers by Jenny Hardin and Katie Langford.

Watman also finished with 18 points and Hardin added 15 to support Turek, the conference's player of the year as well as the top scorer and rebounder. It was the 17th double-double this season for Turek, who tied Oral Roberts' record for career field goals.

Vivian Herron set the mark with 853 from 1985-89, but Turek will have a chance to break it in her second trip to the NCAAs. She also led the Golden Eagles to the tournament in 2005, where they lost to Texas 64-46 in the first round.

It's the fourth Mid-Con title for Oral Roberts, which also earned trips to the NCAAs with wins in 1999, 2001 and 2005.

Turek leaped into a hug with Hardin after Oakland's final miss, and the entire team flooded onto the court following the final buzzer. The student section followed a few moments later.

Pike led Oakland with 18 points and Piggott added 11. The Golden Grizzlies had won 15 of their previous 16 games, and the only other loss was also against Oral Roberts on Feb. 24.

After running through the Mid-Con tournament as the sixth seed last season, Oakland will head to the Women's NIT after winning the regular season title this year.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Hanna Reising put Oakland ahead 19-11 early, but the Golden Eagles came back with a 15-2 surge to take the lead.

Hardin hit a pair of 3-pointers in the run and Turek added three baskets, including a turnaround jumper in the lane that gave Oral Roberts its first lead at 28-26. Davidson followed with a 3-pointer to end the run and give Oral Roberts a five-point edge.

Oakland tied it at 35 on Piggott's jumper just before halftime.