Feb. 8, 2014

Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery

ROCHESTER, Mich. - Victoria Lipscomb tallied a career-best 20 points and Elena Popkey recorded her second double-double of the season as the Oakland women's basketball team (10-13, 5-5 HL) defeated Youngstown State (10-12, 6-3 HL), 87-67, Saturday afternoon in the Athletics Center O'rena. OU had five players finish with double-digit points.

"This was a great win for us over a very good Youngstown State team," said head coach Jeff Tungate. "They were tied for first place in the league coming in. They lost their last two games on the road but are an outstanding team. It was a tough matchup for us. Our players responded and we had people step up and make shots in the first half. Our offense clicked on all cylinders and we really wanted a balanced attack. Our defense was pretty solid. Last time at their place they got a lot of open shots. We know Heidi Schlegel is one of the best players in the league so we wanted to make sure the other players didn't hurt us tonight."

Lipscomb hit a career-best six 3-pointers including starting the game 4-for-4 from long range. Popkey had 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for her double-double. Bethany Watterworth finished with 18 points for her 11th straight double-digit scoring performance. Olivia Nash tallied 12 points and seven rebounds, while Nola Anderson finished with 10 points. The Golden Grizzlies finished 50.0 percent from behind the arc (11-22).

Oakland came out on fire to start the game hitting eight of its first 11 shots including making six in a row. OU held a 16-point advantage after a 22-5 run led by three Lipscomb triples. The Penguins would battle back with a 12-6 run to end the half as OU held a 39-32 lead at intermission.

Youngstown State fought to cut the Oakland lead to just four points after a 12-4 run midway through the second half. However, the Golden Grizzlies would use a late 19-4 run to go up 21 points with just 2:46 remaining in the game. Popkey finished with 16 of her 18 points in the second half and Watterowrth added 11. In the game Oakland forced 13 turnovers and score 20 points off the YSU miscues.

The Penguins were led by Heidi Schlegel with 28 points and 13 rebounds, while Karen Flagg added 10 points. Youngstown State shot just 29.2 percent from 3-point range, compared to 50.0 percent in the first meeting between the teams on Jan. 25 when YSU won 79-64.

OU will return to action next week as they host Detroit on Thursday, Feb. 13 during rivalry week. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside the Athletics Center O'rena.

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