After advancing past Southern Utah in the opening round of the Summit League Tournament Sunday, the Oakland University women’s basketball (19-11) team is one-third of the way toward accomplishing its goal of winning a conference championship for the first time since 2006.

The Grizzlies’ task will become more difficult, however, as the team will face top-seeded Oral Roberts in Monday’s first semifinals matchup. OU was defeated twice by the Golden Eagles during the regular season, losing by 22 points on the road in December and dropping an overtime game at home in late-January.

Monday’s tipoff is set for 1 p.m. EST.

Oral Roberts (21-9) leads the all-time series with Oakland 20-11, and is 4-0 in the past two seasons.

The Golden Eagles are led by Summit League Player of the Year Kevi Luper, who averaged 24.0 points per game during the regular season. The sophomore guard, who was also named Defensive Player of the Year this week, scored a combined 65 points in a pair of games against OU this season.

Oakland junior Sharise Calhoun, who scored 24 points in the tournament opener, has found similar success against Oral Roberts this season, most recently with a season-high 28-point performance on Jan. 31.

To defeat Oral Roberts, the Grizzlies will need another strong defensive performance to slow down the Golden Eagles’ high-powered offense. ORU set a Summit League Tournament record by scoring 108 points in its first round win over Western Illinois on Saturday.

While unlikely to occur in Monday’s game, Oakland is 10-0 this season when it can prevent its opponent from hitting 60 points.

One player that bears watching in the semifinals is junior center Brittany Carnago. While head coach Beckie Francis praised Carnago for her defensive efforts against SUU, her presence on the box score was limited to a three points, two rebounds and no blocks, where she ranks 10th in the nation.

An improvement from the 39.7 percent the team shot in the quarterfinals will also be important to watch. Despite winning, the team experienced a couple scoring lulls it won’t be able to repeat if it wants to better result against ORU in the third meeting of the season.

The other semifinals matchup in the women’s bracket features No. 2 IPFW and No. 3 South Dakota State. The game will immediately follow Oakland’s game on Monday afternoon.

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Follow @DanFenner on Twitter for updates and analysis throughout the tournament March 5-8.

Photo courtesy of Dave Eggen and Dick Carlson / Inertia