ROCHESTER, Mich. – The No. 8 seed Oakland women's basketball team opens the 2019 Little Caesars Motor City Madness Horizon League Championships at No. 1 seed Wright on Tuesday, March 5 at 5:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on from the Nutter Center on ESPN+ with Scott Leo (play-by-play) and Justin Kinner (analyst) on the call. The winning team will advance to the semifinals and play the winner of No. 4 seed IUPUI and No. 5 seed Northern Kentucky at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich. on Monday, March 11 at 1 p.m.
Notes:
Tournament History: Oakland is 20-17 all-time in conference tournaments with a 0-1 mark as a No. 8 seed in the Division I era. The Golden Grizzlies are 1-5 in the Horizon League Tournament and captured Mid-Continent titles in 2002 and 2006 to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
2018 Motor City Madness Recap:
No. 7 Golden Grizzlies pick up first Horizon League Tournament win in program history against No. 10 UIC
Taylor Jones scored 17 of her game-high 20 points in the second half while
Cierra Bond poured in 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting from behind the arc with six rebounds, four assists and four steals as No. 7 seed Oakland won the program's first Horizon League Tournament game with a convincing 80-46 victory over No. 10 seed UIC. Oakland put the clamps down defensively scoring 41 points off 25 UIC turnovers while holding the Flames to only 27 points over the first three quarters. Offensively, the Golden Grizzlies opened the game on a 13-2 run and never looked back.
No. 7 Oakland's season comes to end against No. 2 IUPUI
Leah Somerfield scored a team-high 13 points with eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks while
Sha'Keya Graves added 10 points and four assists as No. 7 seed Oakland played No. 2 seed IUPUI down to the wire but fell short, 56-49, to end the season at 2018 Motor City Madness Horizon League Championships.
Taylor Gleason added nine points with a game-high six assists while
Nikita Telesford chipped in with seven points.
Mercy Agwaniru also added two solid blocks.
Last time out: Senior
Taylor Jones scored a game-high 18 points with seven assists and five rebounds to move into eighth place all-time in program history with 1575 career points while senior
LaKyesha Stennis matched a career-high 16 points for the third time this season as Oakland fell in a hard-fought battle, 73-64, to Wright State in the regular season finale last Saturday (3/2).
Scouting the Raiders: Wright State won the Horizon League regular season title with a 16-2 conference record and 24-6 overall mark ending Green Bay's 20-year run. The Raiders are ranked 11th in the latest collegeinsider.com Women's Mid-Major Poll and are led by senior Mackenzie Taylor (11.7 ppg) and junior Michal Miller (11.5 ppg) who rank ninth and 12th respectively in the league in scoring. Wright State leads the all-time series 13-1 with Oakland's last win coming on Feb. 11, 1989.
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