Women's Basketball 12/8/2007 12:00:00 AM

Career-high Night for Watman as ORU Defeats South Dakota State, 67-57

TULSA - The Oral Roberts women's basketball team was able to hold onto its perfect home record this season after defeating the South Dakota State Jackrabbits (5-3, 0-1) in the first conference game of the season.

Four of the five starters for ORU (5-2, 1-0) finished the game with double-digits, with Rachel Watman leading the way. Watman, a Sydney, Australia native, finished the game with a career-high 21 points as well as a career-best nine rebounds. Junior Jenny Hardin put up 19 points, five of those coming from the free-throw line. Hardin continues to stay perfect from the free-throw line going 16-for-16 over the past three games.

The Golden Eagles forced South Dakota State to 28 turnovers, their highest turnover game of the season, while ORU doubled the Jacks in steals with 11 to SDSU's four.

Rachel Watman was the first to score for the Golden Eagles, hitting a layup and a three-pointer to give ORU the early advantage in the first half, but SDSU's Alison Anderson would hit a three at the 13:12 mark to give the Jackrabbits their first lead of the game, 8-7. The Jacks would hold ORU scoreless until the 10:03 mark when Jenny Hardin's back-to-back free throws and layup would tie the game, 12-12.

The Golden Eagles would go on a 11-1 run to grab their biggest lead of the game, 21-17, with six minutes left in the half, but South Dakota State would get back to within two of the Golden Eagles with a Macie Michelson three. Rachel Watman would come right back to score four-straight points to go into the locker room at halftime with a five-point lead, 27-23.

ORU would open up the second half on a 4-0 run, holding the Jacks to zero points until the 17 minute mark when Andrea Verdegan's jumper would start a 5-0 run for SDSU to make it a three-point game, 31-28. The Golden Eagles would start to pull away from the Jacks, extending their lead to 44-32 with the help of a Watman three, her third of the game, and four-straight Hardin points.

The Jacks would not go down easily, forcing ORU to a timeout after going on an 11-4 run to get back within eight with 8:54 left in the game. The Golden Eagles would regain its 10-point lead with two-straight Jenny Hardin free-throws to give ORU a 62-51 lead. ORU would hold on to the lead to go on to win their first conference game of the season and first win in The Summit League, 67-57.

ORU will remain at home for a Monday, December 10 match-up with North Dakota State. The Bison and Golden Eagles will lock up at 7:05 p.m. at the Mabee Center.

-ORU-

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#12 Jenny Hardin: F/C; 6' 2"; Junior; Claremore HS

#5 Rachel Watman: G; 5' 8"; Junior; Endeavour Sports HS

Players Mentioned

#12 Jenny Hardin
: 6' 2"; Junior; Claremore HS
: F/C

#5 Rachel Watman
: 5' 8"; Junior; Endeavour Sports HS
: G

Players Mentioned

#12 Jenny Hardin

#5 Rachel Watman

Players Mentioned

#12 Jenny Hardin

#5 Rachel Watman