ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Oakland women's basketball team continues their five-game league road swing at Youngstown State and Cleveland State. The Golden Grizzlies and Penguins tip off on Thursday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. followed by the Vikings on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 1 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live from the Beeghly Center and Wolstein Center on ESPN+ and ESPN3 respectively.
Scouting the Penguins: Youngstown State is 15-5 overall and sits second in the Horizon League standings at 7-2 in conference play. The Penguins have three players averaging double figures in scoring led by senior Alison Smolinski (13.8 ppg) followed by redshirt senior Sarah Cash (13.6) and junior Mary Dunn (13.3).
Season rewind vs YSU: The Penguins won the earlier meeting at Oakland, 69-55, on Dec. 30 to take a 12-9 all-time series lead.
Taylor Jones just missed a double-double scoring a game-high 17 points with nine rebounds along with six assists and three steals while
Autumn Kissman added a career-high 10 points going 4-for-4 from the free throw line with six rebounds.
At look at Vikings: Cleveland State sits sixth in the league standings with a 4-5 conference mark and 7-13 overall record. The Vikings have four players averaging in double figures led by junior Mariah Miller (15.9 ppg), junior Jade Ely (14.8), sophomore Mariah White (12.3) and freshman Savanna Crockett (11.5).
Last time vs CSU: The Vikings edged the Golden Grizzlies, 64-62, in a barn burner at the O'rena on Dec. 28 and holds a 7-5 all-time series advantage.
Nikita Telesford scored a team-high 17 points for the second time this season just missing her career-high by one point.
Brianna Breedy dished a career-high eight assists while
Mercy Agwaniru grabbed a career-best four steals while matching a career-mark with four blocks.
Notes:
Last time out: Telesford scored a team-high 15 points going 6-of-9 from the field with six rebounds while
LaKyesha Stennis added 11 points as Oakland fell 72-50 at Northern Kentucky on Sunday, Jan. 27.
Pass/Protect the Rock: Brianna Breedy is tied atop the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.5) while the team is sixth (0.7) and fifth in turnover margin (-.70).
Block Party: Oakland ranks third in the league in block shots (85) and blocked shots per game (4.3) which rank 51st and 66th respectively in the nation. Individually,
Mercy Agwaniru (1.2) leads the team and is fourth in the league while
Kayla Luchenbach (0.8) is tied for ninth and
Nikita Telesford (0.6) is tied at 14th.
Grab and Go: The Golden Grizzlies are second in turnovers forced (17.30) and are tied forth in steals per game (8.70) with
Taylor Jones ranking fifth individually (1.7) followed by
Kahlaijah Dean in eighth (1.5).
Dropping Dimes: Oakland is tied for fourth in the league in assists (13.30) while Jones is tied for fourth individually (3.8) followed by Breedy who is 10th (2.6).
#WEARtheBEAR
