Midcon Women's tournament Day 4

Championship game: Oakland Lady Grizzlies vs ORU Lady Eagles

On his pregame show, Jerry Finkbeiner described Oakland as a pesky 5-guard lineup that nevertheless led the league in rebounding this season.

7-5 Oakland in the early going. ORU played a trapping defense. Oakland got behind it for a layup but Turek swatted it away. A very hard fought battle, 11-9 Oakland at the first media timeout (13:34).

Oakland did solve the half court defense with a perfect 3-man weave for a layup. Hanna Reising hit a 3 with a Turek basket in between, 16-11 Oakland.

Reising hit another 3 and Oakland went up by 8.

The Maniacs made a better showing today, thanks to Richard Roberts calling off classes for them. The non-student ORU crowd still left something to be desired.

Langford finally broke the scoring drought with a 3 to make 19-14. Charlise Greer got free in the paint for a 3-pt. play. 22-14. Davidson worked the baseline for a layup, 22-16.

Nicole Piggot stole a rebound from Hardin at one point. They didn't convert but it was an awesome play. Hardin hit a 3, and at the 3rd media timeout, Oakland 24-19 (7:24).

Turek cut it to 3 with a contested shot on the baseline. After an Oakland miss, a loose-ball situation found Turek underneath for an uncontest layup. Oakland 24 ORU 23. Hardin hit a 3 after a Oakland basket to tie it at 26. Oakland missed two straight 1-1s. Turek got loose in the lane again and ORU goes up 28-26, immediately followed by an Oakland turnover. The Grizzlies played tough defense, as they have pretty much the whole half and got the stop, but Oakland could not get a good shot. ORU played pretty good defense themselves.

Jenea Voelker injured her knee going for a close-in shot against Nicole Piggot. The trainers worked on it at the end of the bench, so it is theoretically possible she will return, though probably not in the first half with 3:16 remaining. On the inbounds play Davidson drained a 3. ORU 31 Oakland 26. Piggot responded with a layup around Turek. After another Oakland miss, Turek got loose in the paint and went to the line, making 1 of 2. April Kidd answered with a 3. ORU 32 Oakland 31. After an ORU miss, Oakland missed a 3, but April Kidd stole the rebound and kept it alive. Greer muscled down the rebound off another missed 3 and spun around Hardin for a layup. ORU hit another 3, but Piggot answered with a 2 at the buzzer. Halftime: 35-35.

ORU scored the first 5 points of the 2nd half. Jeltima end that streak with a layup. Rachel Watman got hot for the 2nd day in a row. 1st media timeout: ORU 43 Oakland 37.

ORU stretched the lead to 12 and maintained at least a 10 pt until Jessica Pike drained a 3 with 6:45 to go to cut the lead to 7.

During breaks the Ice-cream sandwich throwers definitely favored the ORU fan sections.

Watman hit 1 of 2 to push the lead to 8. Piggot hit a 3 to cut it to 5. ORU was up by 10 on this bunch at the Mabee Center with about 5 minutes to go and couldn't hold the lead, losing in overtime.

Hardin hit another 3 to stretch the lead back to 10. Baker responded with a layup. Oakland got a steal but couldn't convert. Langford hit a 3. 64-53 at final media timeout (2:31).

Back door layup by Pike cut the lead to 9. But that's as close as they got. ORU hit FTs and made stops. Oakland had a breakaway but forced the long pass and threw it away. Final score ORU 72 Oakland 55.

Once again, we have to have the ORU players huddled around mid-court for the cameras so they can't shake hands with their counterparts. The poor sportsmanship continues to amaze me. Can't they take a few measly seconds to acknowledge their counterparts before they whoop it up with the Maniacs?? At least the ORU coaches met each of the Oakland coaches and players with a handshake and a pat on the back. I don't remember even that happening 2 years ago. At the end of the awards ceremonies, a few ORU players walked up to the Oakland players and greeted them properly as they headed to their locker room. Still, the priorities are a little out of whack. That should be done first, not last.

By the way, I don't single out the ORU players on this. It's the whole atmosphere that is created at tournament time that leads to slights like this. The cameras and the TV coverage of course encourage this. They want to see the scrum at center court, and NOW.

The all tournament team contained 2 Oakland players and 3 ORU players. I had thought Betsy Rietema would at least get a slot.

ORU will go to the Big Dance, and Oakland as the regular season champs will go to the WNIT. That will most likely be the limit of the Mid-Con's postseason involvement this year. With the WNIT's emphasis on at least one rep from every conference, it is extremely unlikely that they would take 2 from the Mid-Con.