Dec. 31, 2014 ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Oakland women's basketball team will begin the new year on the road as it will complete its non-conference schedule on Friday, Jan. 2 at Dartmouth beginning at 2 p.m. in Leede Arena.
LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Grizzlies are coming off a tough 74-69 loss at Central Michigan, the No. 15 ranked mid-major team in the country, on Sunday. Oakland trailed by as many as 15 in the second half before taking the lead late, but CMU was able to take back the lead in the final minute to win the game. Nola Anderson finished with a career-high 21 points on nine field goals, while Olivia Nash tallied her fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Nash was named the Horizon League Player of the Week on Dec. 29 after recording back-to-back double-doubles against IPFW and Central Michigan. She averaged 15.5 points and 12.5 rebounds over the two-game stretch for her first weekly league honor of the season.
SERIES
The Golden Grizzlies hold a 2-0 advantage over the Big Green with both contests being played inside the Athletics Center O'rena. In the last meeting, Oakland won 62-52 on Dec. 16, 2010.
SCOUTING DARTMOUTH
The Big Green enter the game with a 8-5 record including winning their last three-straight contests. Dartmouth is led by Fanni Szabo with 18 points per game and Lakin Roland with 13.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. The Big Green are a perfect 4-0 at Leede Arena this season.
TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK
The Golden Grizzlies pride themselves on taking care of the ball and it has shown on the court this season as they rank 80th in the NCAA in turnover margin, 91st in turnovers per game and 46th in assist-to-turnover ratio. Oakland is also 45th in assists per game. Peyton Apsey is second in the Horizon League with a 1.8 assist-to-turnover ratio, while Elena Popkey is fifth with a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio.
DE-FENSE! CLAP! CLAP!
Oakland boasts one of the best defensive teams in the country. The Golden Grizzlies rank 90th in steals and 87th in 3-point field-goal defense in the NCAA, while Sinclair Russell is tops in the Horizon League and 63rd in the NCAA in blocks per game with 1.8.
ANNIVERSARY SEASON
Oakland is celebrating two milestone seasons in 2014-15. This marks the 40th year of women's basketball at Oakland as head coach Kathy Williams went 8-7 in the inaugural season back in 1974-75. This is also the 25th anniversary of the 1989-90 Division II Final Four team. That team won the GLIAC Championship with a 14-2 conference record. The then Pioneers won NCAA Tournament games over IPFW, St. Joseph's (Ind.) and snapped Central Missouri State's 55-game home winning streak before falling to Bentley in the national semifinal, 72-68.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Nash is 39th in the country with five double-doubles already this season. She was named Horizon League Player of the Week on Dec. 29 after recording back-to-back doubles against IPFW and Central Michigan, averaging 15.5 points and 12.5 rebounds over the two-game stretch. Popkey also tallied a double-double with 17 points and 12 assists against IPFW. The 12 assists was the first double-digit assist performance by an Oakland player since 2010.
PRESEASON ACCOLADES
Popkey earned preseason recognition as she was named to the Preseason All-Horizon League second team and the College Sports Madness Preseason All-Horizon League second Team. The academic all-league selection last season averaged 13.8 points and 6.2 rebounds while leading the league with 38.5 minutes played during conference games.
The Golden Grizzlies were picked to finish sixth in the Horizon League Preseason Poll, as voted on by the head coaches, staff and media members.
COACH TUNGATE AT THE HELM
Jeff Tungate was named the head coach for the women's basketball team on July 16, 2013. He had spent the previous six seasons as the associate head coach for the men's basketball program and is going into his 10th season overall with the Golden Grizzlies. In 2014, Tungate received the inaugural Oakland Athletics Coach of the Year award.
In his first season, Tungate led the Golden Grizzlies to its first non-losing season in league play since 2010-11. Oakland finished the season with a 8-8 record in its inaugural season in the Horizon League. He also implemented a new offense that averaged the most points per game since 2007-08 and the most total points in five seasons. He coached the first-ever All-Horizon League performers in Bethany Watterworth (2nd team) and Kim Bee (All-Defensive).
UP NEXT
The Golden Grizzlies return home to tip-off the Horizon League schedule on Jan. 10 against Milwaukee inside the Athletics Center O'rena starting at 11:30 a.m.
#WEARtheBEAR
