In a game on the road against the Cleveland State Vikings on Saturday, Feb. 8, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies women’s basketball team came up short 79-58.
Macy Smith led the Golden Grizzlies in scoring, scoring a season-high 25 points while making 50% of her attempts from the field. Dani Grim also had a solid showing, putting up 13 points while snagging a team-high five boards.
The Vikings’ offensive output was nearly entirely provided by four players, with Destiny Leo scoring the most in the game with 20 points. Sara Guerreiro was another Viking who dominated the matchup, notching 16 points while distributing eight assists and grabbing six rebounds.
The first quarter started solid for the Golden Grizzlies. Smith and Maddy Skorupski supplemented the scoring early. On the other side of the court, Cleveland State developed its offensive identity early, scoring its first four baskets with layups.
Towards the end of the quarter, Grim got involved offensively, scoring the last four points of the frame for the Golden Grizzlies. Behind Grim’s momentum, Oakland ended the quarter down by just four points.
At the beginning of the second quarter, the Vikings started to pull away. Despite the Golden Grizzlies still keeping pace through the first three minutes, Leo completely took over, making a trio of consecutive threes to give Cleveland State its first double-digit lead of the game.
Oakland worked at stopping the bleeding throughout the rest of the quarter with a four-point play from Smith, cutting the Viking lead to eight. However, Leo was fouled on a three-point attempt on the last possession of the quarter, sinking all three attempts at the charity stripe to give the Vikings a 38-26 lead heading into the break.
With a large deficit to make up in the second half, the Golden Grizzlies could not stop the Vikings’ momentum. Cleveland State opened the third on a 10-2 run as they attacked the paint, hunting for high-percentage looks at the rim.
Kylie Buckley ended Cleveland State’s run with a pair of free throws, but the Vikings weren’t going anywhere, continuing to overpower the Golden Grizzlies in the low post as Oakland finished the quarter down 60-40.
In the final quarter, the Golden Grizzlies started showing more consistency on offense, keeping pace with the Vikings for nearly the entire quarter. Still, keeping up with the Vikings isn’t enough when there’s a massive gap to close, leading to Oakland’s eighth conference loss of the season.
The loss shifts Oakland’s conference record to 6-8, which is good for sixth place in the Horizon League standings.
From the box score, Cleveland State’s efficiency in the paint proved to be Oakland’s most prominent issue all game long. In this game, the Vikings converted 88% of its two-point attempts, and the team outscored the Golden Grizzlies in points in the paint 38-10.
Next, the Golden Grizzlies will have a chance to get back in the win column with a two-game homestand at the OU Credit Union O’Rena, starting with the Green Bay Phoenix on Thursday, Feb. 13, and ending with the Milwaukee Panthers on Saturday, Feb. 15.
Green Bay will be a tough matchup for the Golden Grizzlies, as the Phoenix rank second in the Horizon League standings and have only lost one conference game this season. Additionally, Green Bay handed Oakland a rough 69-39 loss earlier in the season.
However, the game against Milwaukee should be a lot more manageable for this Oakland squad. The Panthers are dead last in the standings, and the Golden Grizzlies have already picked up a 75-72 win against them on the road earlier in the season.