NORMAN, Okla. (AP) – Oral Roberts got the tempo it wanted.
Oklahoma got the victory.
|  | | Coach Sherri Coale and the Sooners celebrate a first-round victory over Oral Roberts. |
Oklahoma survived a scare Saturday night, needing a 9-0 run late
in the game to pull away and beat the Golden Eagles 70-64 in the
NCAA West Regional.
"We have survived and we are playing Monday night, and we are
very happy about that," coach Sherri Coale said.
The second-seeded Sooners (27-5) never led by more than eight,
and trailed 57-55 with just over five minutes remaining before
finally taking control.
All-American Stacey Dales and Caton Hill scored 16 each for the
Sooners, who will play Stanford or George Washington in the second
round Monday night.
ORU coach Jerry Finkbeiner said his team had to keep a slow pace
to have a chance against the Sooners, who came in averaging 83
points per game. The 15th-seeded Golden Eagles (20-11) did that,
walking the ball up the floor on every possession and not allowing
Oklahoma to get out and run.
"We didn't come down here to lose," Finkbeiner said. "In our
minds, we were going to play close. I'm so proud of our girls."
Freshman Cori Williston scored 17 of her career-high 19 points
in the second half. The Golden Eagles' leading scorer, Krista
Ragan, added 14 but had only one basket in the second half and
fouled out with 4:02 left.
"Our goal was to be within six points at the final media
timeout," Finkbeiner said. "The problem was we didn't have our
leading scorer down the stretch."
Oklahoma, which beat ORU by 31 on Nov. 18, trailed 54-51 after a
Williston 3-pointer with 6:48 remaining. Hill scored inside and
Rosalind Ross hit a follow shot to give the Sooners a 55-54 lead,
but a three-point play by Ragan gave the lead back to the Golden
Eagles.
Then Dales scored in the lane and Sunny Hardeman sank a
3-pointer, her only field goal, for a 60-57 lead with 4:32 left.
"I was like, `Man, I hope this goes in,' because it was a big
shot," Hardeman said.
Finkbeiner got hit with a technical foul after reacting to the
fifth foul against Ragan, who collided with Dales while chasing a
loose ball.
Hardeman made one of the two technical free throws, then Dales
added one of two – the miss was an airball – for a 62-57 lead.
Jamie Talbert closed out the run with an inside basket that gave
Oklahoma a 64-57 lead.
Williston cut the deficit to four with a 3-pointer at the 3:17
mark, but the Golden Eagles got no closer the rest of the way.
"The goal was to stay within four or five," Ragan said. "We
knew the longer that we stayed around, the pressure was going to
get tighter on them."
The pressure was evident – Dales' airball was one of two by
Oklahoma from the free-throw line. But the Sooners made enough
plays to win and move on.
"They played to survive and did an outstanding job of trying to
slow the game down," Coale said. "They were playing hard and we
were tight. We'll be fine."
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ALSO SEE
Women's College Basketball Scoreboard
Oral Roberts Clubhouse
Oklahoma Clubhouse
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