ORU women's basketball update
BY JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
Friday, March 08, 2013
3/08/13 at 2:48 AM
15-12 overall, 12-5 Southland
Catching up: Oral Roberts can grab a share of the Southland Conference regular season championship if the Golden Eagles win Saturday at Central Arkansas and if Sam Houston State loses at Northwestern State.
Player to watch: Taylor Cooper. A freshman from Shawnee, Cooper recorded her first career double-double in a Saturday victory at Lamar, scoring 16 points and grabbing a career-best 10 rebounds.
Notes
The mission: ORU players are aware a Saturday trip to Central Arkansas has ramifications.
"We know that we have got to play them even better than we did when they were here," ORU senior forward Savanna Buck said, referring to a 76-69 victory over the Sugar Bears on Feb. 19.
Buck said no other team in the Southland has two "bigs" like UCA's Megan Herbert and Courtney Duever, who combined for 36 points and 21 rebounds at the Mabee Center.
"We have so much respect for both of their post players," Buck said. "They are great players. And we have respect for their guards. They have got quick, athletic guards.
"But it's all about, at this point, who is the aggressor? We definitely have to come out and play aggressive from the get-go. We have got to let the refs know this is how we play and try to adjust to the way that we play, but we can't give (UCA) the opportunity to put us back on our heels, because they are the kind of team that can take over in that situation."
Record update: ORU senior guard Kevi Luper enters the final regular-season game with 2,798 career points (18th in NCAA Division I history) and 447 career steals (ninth in D-I history).
