Feb. 21, 2009

Box Score | Notes

ROCHESTER, Mich. - Senior Jessica Pike scored a game-high 17 points, senior April Kidd added 15 points, junior Melissa Jeltema turned in a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore Brittany Carnago scored 10 points to lead the Oakland University women's basketball team (21-5, 13-2 Summit League) to a 72-63 victory over the IUPUI Jaguars (14-13, 9-7 Summit League) on Saturday at The Jungle.

The 21 wins ties the highest win total for Oakland during the Division I era (previously reached during the 2004-05 season), and marks the most wins in a season for Oakland University head coach Beckie Francis at Oakland.

"I told the team in the locker room that this win was as big a win as we've had all season," said Francis. "Even as big as South Dakota State at home. IUPUI is a very good team. They're a good rebounding team, and they are a good ball-control team. They're hard to play here. We handled the adversity well and I'm proud of how we played."

While IUPUI controlled the opening two minutes of the contest, a 3-pointer by April Kidd put the Golden Grizzlies on the board, and OU quickly claimed a 5-4 lead after Kidd hit a layup in transition with 17:27 remaining in the opening half. IUPUI reclaimed the lead after Jernisha Cann hit a pair of freebies, and pushed ahead 10-t before Oakland clawed back and took the lead once more as junior Hanna Reising hit a pair of free throws to put OU ahead 13-12 with 13:20 remaining.

Oakland pushed its lead to as many as eight (22-14) at the 10:16 mark, but IUPUI cut the Oakland lead down and the Jaguars pulled ahead 25-24 after a layup by BryKeesha Tate at the 5:59 mark. OU scored the next eight points to claim a 32-25 lead with 3:36 remaining. However, the Jaguars would charge back and center Julia Whitted would hit a layup with just 28 seconds remaining in the half to knot the game at 36 and the two teams would go into the intermission tied.

IUPUI claimed a lead in the opening minutes of the second half, pushing ahead by as many as four (42-38) with 17:42 remaining in the contest, but Oakland pulled ahead (43-42) on a layup by Carnago with 15:33 remaining. The Golden Grizzlies would never trail again, and the nine-point margin of victory represented OU's largest lead of the night.

OU held a 39-35 advantage on the rebounding glass, and were virtually even in shooting percentage, trailing IUPUI by just one tenth of a percentage point (44.3 to 44.2 percent). Both teams committed 17 turnovers.

The Golden Grizzlies will return to action on Monday, Feb. 23 as they play their final road game of the year against Western Illinois. An 8 p.m. tip is scheduled.

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