Jan. 28, 2015 ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Oakland women's basketball team continues a three-game homestand on Thursday as the Golden Grizzlies host the Wright State Raiders inside the Athletics Center O'rena beginning at 7 p.m. It will be Throwback Thursday in the O'rena as tickets are $2 and popcorn priced at just 50 cents.
LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Grizzlies snapped a two-game losing streak on Saturday with a thrilling 85-82 win over Youngstown State, the 23rd ranked Mid-Major team and 29th ranked team in the RPI, on Saturday in the O'rena. Olivia Nash recorded 20 points and Peyton Apsey scored a career-high 17 points in the victory. Amy Carlton hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds to seal the three-point victory.
INSIDE THE SERIES
The Golden Grizzlies are 1-3 all-time against the Raiders. Wright State won both Horizon League contests last season including a 92-78 victory in the O'rena on Feb. 18.
SCOUTING WSU
The second-place Raiders enter the game No. 23 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll and are 4-2 this season in the Horizon League. Tay'ler Mingo is tops in the Horizon League and fourth in the NCAA in scoring averaging 23.9 points per game, while Tayler Stanton is second in the Horizon League with 10.8 rebounds per contest.
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 78th in the NCAA in turnover margin, 68th in turnovers per game and 37th in assist-to-turnover ratio. Oakland is also 34th in assists per game. Peyton Apsey is second in the Horizon League with a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio, good for 33rd in the NCAA, while Elena Popkey is fifth and 54th in the NCAA with a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Olivia Nash is tied for third in the Horizon League with six double-doubles already this season. She was named Horizon League Player of the Week on Dec. 29 after recording back-to-back double-doubles against IPFW and Central Michigan, averaging 15.5 points and 12.5 rebounds over the two-game stretch. Elena 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. Sinclair Russell collected her second-ever double-double against Milwaukee setting career-highs with 15 points and 15 boards. Nola Anderson tallied her first career double-double at Valpo with 17 points and career-best 12 rebounds.
1,000 POINT CLUB
Juniors Elena Popkey and Olivia Nash are closing in on passing the 1,000 point mark this season and becoming the 26th and 27th players in Oakland history to earn the distinction. Popkey currently sits at 952 points with a career average of 12.4 points per game, followed closely by Nash with 870 points with a career scoring average of 12.3 points per game. They would become the first pair of teammates since Jayme Wilson and Anne Hafeli during the 2004-05 season to reach 1,000 points in the same season.
DE-FENSE! CLAP! CLAP!
Oakland boasts one of the best defensive teams in the Horizon League. The Golden Grizzlies rank 21st in 3-point field-goal defense, 16th in defensive rebounds and 90th in steals in the NCAA, while Sinclair Russell is third in the Horizon League and 100th in the NCAA in blocks per game with 1.6.
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.
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 conclude a three-game homestand on Saturday hosting Cleveland State beginning at 3 p.m. in the O'rena as the game will be broadcast live on TV20. It is Alumni Day as Oakland will honor all returning women's basketball players from the last 40 seasons and give special recognition to the 25th anniversary of the 1989-90 Division II Final Four team.
#WEARtheBEAR
