ORAL ROBERTS (14-5, 3-3 Mid-Con) at VALPARAISO (11-8, 4-2 Mid-Con)

WHEN: Monday, February 3, 2003, 7:05 p.m.

WHERE: Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000), Valparaiso, Ind.

RADIO: WVUR (95.1-FM), Valparaiso. Ed Schillinger will provide the play-by-play, with Andrew Stem adding the color commentary.

TV: None.

THE COACHES: Valparaiso is led by Keith Freeman, who is in his 15th season of coaching, and 9th with the Crusaders. He is 277-148 overall and 148-101 with Valpo. Oral Roberts is led by Jerry Finkbeiner, who is 282-111 in his 12th season overall and 96-95 in his 7th season with the Golden Eagles.

SERIES RECORD: Valparaiso leads the overall series with Oral Roberts 8-4. The Crusaders have won the last three meetings between the schools.

LAST SEASON: Last year, the Crusaders were 69-50 victors here at the ARC as Marlous Nieuwveen and Jeanette Gray each scored 15 points. Krista Ragan led the Golden Eagles with 17 points. In Tulsa, the Crusaders escaped with a 61-57 win as Nieuwveen scored 16 points, while Ragan and Cori Williston tallied 18 each for the hosts.

The Valparaiso Crusaders look to maintain their second place standing in the Mid-Continent Conference on Monday evening as they host Oral Roberts to conclude the first half of Mid-Continent Conference action.

END OF A STREAK: Saturday marked the first time since December 7 that an opponent scored 60 or more points against the Crusaders. Valpo had gone a stretch of 11 games holding its opponents in the 40s or 50s.

SEEING DOUBLE: Meredith Baugher tallied her second double-double in a four-game span last Monday night at IUPUI. She tallied 22 points while grabbing 11 rebounds, eight on the offensive end, in the Crusaders victory.

MORE BAUGHER: Baugher continues to have the hot hand for the Brown and Gold, as she tallied a career high 23 points against the Kangaroos on Saturday. The performance marked her fourth double-figure scoring effort in the last five games.

A SOPHOMORE THIEF: Katie Boone recorded a career high seven steals in Valpo's victory over UMKC as the Crusaders recorded 16 thefts on the afternoon.

MAKING THEM COUNT: Suzie Hammel had gone to the free throw line just ten times all season prior to Saturday. Against the Kangaroos, the junior guard made ten of her 12 attempts in the contest.

SHARPSHOOTERS NEEDED: After shooting well from three-point range during the non-conference season (35%), the Crusaders have struggled shooting threes in Mid-Con play. Valpo is shooting just 16.5% (14-of-85) from long range over the first half of conference play.

VALPO TO BECOME ROAD WARRIORS: The Crusaders will pack their bags for the second half of the Mid-Continent Conference schedule. Beginning Saturday at Western Illinois, Valpo will play five of their final seven games away from the ARC.

ORAL ROBERTS NOTES: Oral Roberts visits the ARC this evening looking to rebound from a 68-33 setback on Saturday afternoon at Western Illinois. The Golden Eagles have dropped their last two Mid-Con games, sandwiched around a 72-68 victory over Texas Pan-American.

Stephanie Clark leads a trio of players averaging in double figures for Oral Roberts. The sophomore is tallying a team-high 12.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per night. Cori Williston is averaging 11.8 points per game, and she ranks second in the Mid-Con in three-point shooting, connecting on 43.0% of her attempts. Leah Cannon has added 10.2 points per game and a team-high 5.5 assists per night.

As a team, the Golden Eagles lead the conference scoring 67.2 points per night. Oral Roberts also is tops in the Mid-Con in assists (15.58) and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.84).

Oral Roberts will begin the second half of conference action next week when the Golden Eagles host Southern Utah on Saturday afternoon.

DOWN THE ROAD: Valparaiso will begin the second half of the Mid-Continent Conference schedule on Saturday afternoon when the Crusaders travel to Western Illinois. Tip-off against the current conference leaders is slated for 4 p.m. The Crusaders will continue their three-game road trip the following week as the Brown and Gold heads to Southern Utah and Chicago State.