It’s been a rough January for the Golden Grizzlies women’s basketball team. After a fantastic 4-0 start in conference play, OU has dropped six of its last seven games. With a month left in the season, the team is 5-6 in the Horizon League, good for fifth place in the standings.
Their most recent loss was an ugly 17-point defeat to the Youngstown State University (YSU) Penguins, 73-56. The offense failed to get going until late in the game, amassing just 35 points through the first three quarters.
These offensive frustrations aren’t new, either. In their previous game against Robert Morris University, the team scored 63 points in a 10-point loss. The game before that against Green Bay was even worse, as the Golden Grizzlies managed just 39 points. In fact, in January, they only scored 70 points in three of their eight games, and one of those went to overtime.
Some quick numbers behind the offensive struggles: Oakland sits 227th nationally in three-pointers made per game at 5.7 out of 353 teams in Division I. In their game against Youngstown, OU shot 2-9 from three. Against RMU, they went 4-17, echoing a 5-22 day against Green Bay in the previous game.
They also rank 223rd in free throw attempts per game and 197th in field goal percentage. Perhaps most telling is their rank of 257th in overall points per game, at 61.7.
With nine games left in the regular season, the verdict is hardly out on these Golden Grizzlies. Five of their last nine games come at the O’Rena, giving them homecourt advantage down the stretch of the season.
However, their next four games come against the top four teams in the Horizon League. Oakland must face Detroit Mercy at home before consecutive road trips to undefeated Purdue Fort Wayne and 8-2 Cleveland State loom large. Capping it off is a home meeting against 10-1 Green Bay.
After this gauntlet, the schedule gets significantly easier as their last five games all come against the teams below Oakland in the standings. In order to slowly climb back into the top four of the league, OU must take care of business in these matchups.
To accomplish this, the Golden Grizzlies will rely heavily on their star guard, Maddy Skorupski, who is averaging 17.2 points per game with 3.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. However, in the game against the YSU Penguins this last Sunday, Skorupski was awfully quiet, going just 3-11 from the field for six points with four turnovers. Teams will key in on her to shut down the OU offense, as seen in their 39 points against Green Bay when she again scored only six.
She undoubtedly is the most important cog in the machine, and that is this team. In their overtime win against Milwaukee, Skorupski scored 14 points with nine assists, and against RMU, she scored 25 points, five boards and four assists. OU’s second-leading scorer, senior Macy Smith, who averages 12.3 points per game, will also need to continue playing well and stepping up in games where Skorupski gets guarded more heavily.
Be sure to catch the Golden Grizzlies in action next Saturday, Feb. 1, at 1 p.m. in the OU Credit Union O’Rena against the rival Detroit Mercy Titans.