Feb. 25, 2016 ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Oakland women's basketball team (14-12, 6-9) hosts archrival University of Detroit Mercy in a Metro Series showdown driven by Trinity Transportation on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast live from the Blacktop at the O'rena on TV20 and ESPN3 with the voice of the Golden Grizzlies Neal Ruhl along with Bethany Watterworth on the call.
WHITE OUT: The game against UDM is a White Out with free T-shirts given to the first 100 fans in attendance.
METRO SERIES: Oakland currently holds a commanding 11-1 lead in this season's Metro Series standings. The women's team earned two points with a 79-73 win at UDM on Jan. 23. In the inaugural Metro Series, Oakland and UDM split the season series each earning two points. After trailing 8-4 overall, the Golden Grizzlies outscored the Titans 18-6 through the winter and spring competitions to capture the first title. In the event of a tie this year, Oakland will retain the cup.
A LOOK AT THE TITANS: UDM (13-13, 9-6) sits fourth in the league standings ranking fourth in scoring (69.0 ppg) and second in 3-point (33.7) and free throw percentage (72.7). Individually, the Titans have three players ranking in the league top-10 in scoring led by junior guard Rosanna Reynolds (5th-15.7 ppg), sophomore forward Brianna Cohen (8th-14.4) and sophomore guard Nicole Urbanick (9th-14.0 ppg).
SERIES HISTORY: UDM leads the all-time series 12-10, however, Oakland is 7-4 over the last 11 meetings against the Titans.
LAST TIME OUT: Oakland had three players in double figures with Taylor Jones (13), Olivia Nash (11) and Nicole Dodd (11) while Leah Somerfield grabbed a team and season-high nine rebounds as Oakland fell, 80-64, at Northern Kentucky (Feb. 21).
BLOCK PARTY: Sinclair Russell tied her career-high with five blocks three times this season at CSU (2/16), YSU (2/4) and Valpo (1/9) She has 20 blocks over the last six games and ranks third in the league in blocked shots (1.8 bpg). Russell ranks sixth all-time in program history with 120 career blocks.
A FEEL FOR STEALS: Oakland leads the conference in steals (10.5 spg) with Taylor Gleason (2.6 spg) ranking second, Jones seventh (1.7) and Elena Popkey (1.7) eighth individually.
FILLING IT UP: Oakland ranks second in the league in scoring offense (75.0 ppg) and third in field goal percentage (40.2%) which also rank 21tst and 61st in the nation respectively. Individually, Nash also ranks fourth in the league and 25th nationally in field goal percentage (56.1).
POPKEY DROPPING DIMES: Popkey ranks third the league in assists (5.1 apg) and currently sits in second place all-time in program history with 465 career assist. She also is third in assists/turnover ratio (1.9).
#WEARTheBEAR
