On Sunday, Nov. 17, Oakland’s women’s basketball team traveled to Ann Arbor to take on the University of Michigan (U-M) Wolverines.
The team was coming off a blowout loss to Michigan State and a narrow loss to Army, with a blowout win against Cleary University sandwiched in between. A win against Michigan could earn the Golden Grizzlies a huge early season victory for their resume and a massive in-state rivalry win.
However, despite a solid first quarter, the Golden Grizzlies lost by 30 points to U-M.
First Quarter
OU jumped to a quick 5-0 lead behind a midrange jumper from freshman Sereniti Roberts-Adams and a three from sophomore Kylie Buckley. Roberts-Adams made her presence known early, securing a defensive rebound and two offensive boards.
Michigan’s offense began to wake up; they evened the game with a three and a layup. Dani Grim for the Golden Grizzlies reclaimed the lead with a smooth jumper. After a quick Wolverine 7-0 run, Lianna Baxter knocked home a three to bring the Golden Grizzlies closer at 10-12.
With 2:30 left to go in the opening frame, Michigan erupted for a quick 8-0 run, all within one minute. An offensive rebound and a turnover from the Golden Grizzlies allowed U-M to get out and run. This proved to be a common theme during the game. Madison Royal-Davis stopped the bleeding with a layup to cut it to 12-20.
Second Quarter
The Wolverines came out of the gate in the second quarter, attacking hard. They targeted Roberts-Adams and forced two early turnovers from the freshman. A dry spell on the offensive end for the Golden Grizzlies allowed Michigan to rip off another 10-0 run. OU wouldn’t get on the board in the quarter until a Grim three-pointer with just over four minutes to go.
Additionally, a familiar face to the Golden Grizzlies got in the scoring column for Michigan. Brooke Quarles-Daniels transferred from Oakland to Michigan after a terrific sophomore season; the junior guard scored a layup for her first points of the game.
OU would escape the quarter down 17-35, but they were not out of the game. The Wolverines won the rebounding battle 22-9 in the quarter, dominating the glass and securing multiple offensive rebounds. Oakland would have to control the glass and cut down on turnovers to have a chance to win.
Third Quarter
With much better shot-making in the third quarter, Oakland kept the game within 20 points for most of the period. Maddy Skorupski started heating up, hitting a three and a jumper, while Baxter hit a three and got a layup of her own. Skorupski, Oakland’s leading scorer in the early season with 13.5 points per game, had a frustrating day with four turnovers while shooting 2-10 from the field.
OU had a much better offensive quarter than the second; they scored 18 points compared to five in the second quarter. However, they couldn’t gain any ground on defense, surrendering 23 points to let the Wolverine’s score grow to 58-35.
Jordan Hobbs of the Wolverines led the way with seven points in the third. The 6’3″ senior’s ability to step out and shoot the ball proved a mismatch problem for the Golden Grizzlies all game.
Fourth Quarter
In the final frame, the game got away from the Golden Grizzlies. It was layup after layup for Michigan, scoring 20 points at the rim in the quarter. Seven turnovers from the Golden Grizzlies gave the Wolverines easy runouts and let them blow open the game.
Oakland could only manage seven points in the quarter as OU opted to play their bench in the waning minutes. The final score stood at 88-42 for the Wolverines, with Hobbs leading U-M with 16 points and Baxter scoring ten off the bench for Oakland.
By no means is the loss a marker of the quality of this Golden Grizzlies team; they will have all season to come together as a team and improve. These early-season tests are vital to grow as a group and get experience against top competition.
Next up for Oakland is a visit from St. Thomas (Minnesota) at the O’Rena at 4:00 pm on Thursday, Nov. 21.