ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Oakland women's basketball team continues the 2018-19 campaign with a non-conference game against in-state opponent Central Michigan on Thursday, Nov. 8 at 7 pm. The game will be broadcast live from McGuirk Arena on ESPN+ and will also be available on the radio at WHMW 91.5 FM.
 
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Series History: Oakland leads the series between the two schools 12-9 after suffering a 103-85 setback to CMU last season.
 
At look at the Chippewas: Central Michigan enters this season ranked No. 3 in the College Sports Insider Mid-Major Top-25 Poll. During the 2017-18 campaign, CMU had the most prolific season in school history as the Chips won the Mid-American Conference regular season and tournament title and then stunned No. 24 and No. 6 seeded LSU for the program's first NCAA Tournament win. CMU went on to smash No. 3 seed Ohio State, 95-78, in Columbus, Ohio to advance to the Sweet 16 where they eventually fell to No. 2 seed Oregon.
 
Last time out: Taylor Jones scored a game-high 26 points while dishing a career-high nine assists with six rebounds and four steals to lead Oakland to a convincing 94-48 win over Grace Christian in the home opener on Tuesday.
 
Career Debuts: Freshman Teneea Heston delivered a solid overall performance in her collegiate debut with seven points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Alabama transfer LaKyesha Stennis also added 10 points in her Oakland debut after sitting out last season.
 
Guingrich ringing it up: Chloe Guingrich posted a career-high 16 points with seven rebounds in Oakland's win against Grace Christian.
 
2017-18 Season Recap: Oakland finished the 2017-18 season with a 15-16 overall record and 7-11 conference mark. The Golden Grizzlies entered the Horizon League Tournament as the No. 7 seed and defeated No. 10 seed UIC (80-46) to earn the program's first HL tournament win before dropping a hard-fought game to No. 2 IUPUI (56-49).
 
Statistically Speaking: Last season, The Golden Grizzlies led the Horizon League in 3-point field goal percentage (34.6), ranked second in scoring (70.4 ppg), assists (14.60 apg) and 3-point field goals made (7.6) offensively. Defensively, Oakland led the league in steals (10.60) while ranking second in turnover margin (+3.60) and 3-point field goal defense percentage (27.6%) and sixth in blocked shots (3.50).
 
Returning Firepower: Senior and two-time Horizon League Sixth Player of the Year Taylor Jones is the top returner after coming off the bench last season ranking third on the team in scoring (11.2 ppg) which was 19th in the league. She scored in double figures 20 times with a season-high 20 points against Old Dominion (12/21). Jones scored 11 points against NKU (1/6) becoming the 28th player in program history to score 1000 career points.
 
Big Shoes to Fill: Oakland will look to replace four of the team's top-five scorers in departed seniors Sha'Keya Graves (12.5 ppg), Taylor Gleason (11.7), Leah Somerfield (11.2) and Cierra Bond (10.5) along with defensive specialist Korrin Taylor.
 
Fresh Faces: To help fill the offensive void left from the departed seniors, Oakland will look to senior Alabama transfer LaKyesha Stennis who will play her final year of eligibility after sitting out last year and five new freshmen in guards Brianna Breedy, Kahlaijah Dean, Teneea Heston, Victoria Oglesby and forward Kayla Luchenbach.
 
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