Jan. 11, 2014

Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery

DETROIT - Elena Popkey recorded her first double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Oakland women's basketball team (6-9, 1-1 HL) to its first Horizon League victory of the season over Detroit (3-13, 0-3 HL), 78-63, Saturday afternoon in Calihan Hall. The win marks the first-ever Horizon League victory in women's basketball and the 250th in the Division I era.

"Great first Horizon League win for our program," said head coach Jeff Tungate. "We really did a nice job defensively this afternoon and ran good offense in the second half. I cannot tell you how much we appreciate our fans. Seeing all the Grizz Gang, boosters, families, and friends in attendance really means a lot to our program. They played a huge part in our win."

Bethany Watterworth scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Kim Bee added 16 points with nine rebounds and Olivia Nash had 12 points. OU outrebounded UDM 51-43 and outscored the Titans 34-26 in the paint. Oakland never trailed in the contest.

The Golden Grizzlies held a 30-27 lead at the half and led by as many as 13 as OU used a 10-0 run capped by a Popkey 3-pointer and layup at 11:09 remaining. Detroit would cut the first half lead to three points ending the half on a 15-8 run as Senee Shearer hit a triple and Tayelor McCalister made a jump shot in the final minute.

The two teams battled for control early in the second half until Popkey hit a 3-pointer at the 7:59 mark to go up 60-53 and OU never looked back outscoring UDM 48-36. Watterworth and Bee combined for 23 points in the half as the Golden Grizzlies shot 50.0 percent. Oakland would seal the game going 8-of-11 from the free throw line despite being outshot 32-12 from the charity stripe.

Detroit was led by Shearer who finished with a game-high 29 points on 8-of-23 shooting and Reyna Montgomery who added 11 points. The Titans shot just 18.8 percent from behind the arc in the game.

Oakland will begin a two-game homestand next week as they host a pair of Horizon League games starting on Wednesday against Valparaiso beginning at 7 p.m. inside the Athletics Center O'rena.

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