ROCHESTER, Mich. – The No. 8 seed Oakland women's basketball team opens the 2020 Horizon League Championship at No. 5 seed Milwaukee on Tuesday, March 3 at 8 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast live on from the Klotsche Center on ESPN+ with Bob Brainerd (play-by-play) and Maria Viall (analyst) on the call.
 
Notes:
Tournament History: Oakland is 20-18 all-time in conference tournaments with a 0-2 mark as a No. 8 seed in the Division I era. The Golden Grizzlies are 1-6 in the Horizon League Tournament and captured Mid-Continent titles in 2002 and 2006 to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
 
2019 Motor City Madness Recap: Taylor Jones closed out her stellar career scoring a team and game-high 22 points with five assists and four rebounds while Chloe Guingrich grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds just missing her career-high of 16 with seven points as No. 1 Wright State used a late third quarter run to down No. 8 Oakland, 83-60, in quarterfinal action of the 2019 Little Caesars Motor City Madness Horizon League Championships. Kahlaijah Dean had 13 points with three steals while Autumn Kissman chipped in with nine points. Brianna Breedy also dished out five assists with three steals.
 
Series Breakdown: Oakland leads the overall series against Milwaukee, 12-10, after splitting both regular season match-ups.
 
A look at the Panthers: Junior and All-Horizon League Third Team selection Brandi Bisping (9.8 ppg) leads Milwaukee in scoring while senior Lizzie Odegard is tops in rebounds (6.5 rpg). Redshirt junior McKaela Schmelzer leads the team in assists (2.6).
 
Oakland vs Milwaukee Tournament History: Oakland and Milwaukee met during the 2017 Little Caesars Horizon League Championship Tournament held at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Mich. The No. 4 seed Golden Grizzlies fell to the No. 5 Panthers 82-60 in quarterfinal action as Taylor Jones scored a team-high 16 points while Sha'Keya Graves added 15 points. Jones and Graves each went 3-for-6 from 3-point range with Taylor Gleason adding 13 points. Hannah Little chipped in with six points and five rebounds while playing with a broken hand.
 
Milwaukee Rewind Game 2: Kahlaijah Dean reached double figures for the 11th straight game scoring a team-high 19 points with a career-high and perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line with four assists, three steals and her first block of the season while Alona Blackwell reached double digits for the fourth consecutive game with 13 points as Oakland rallied from a 16-point deficit in the second half but fell short at Milwaukee, 74-67, on Valentine's Day. Chloe Guingrich added 11 points with seven rebounds while Kayla Luchenbach chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds.
 
Milwaukee Rewind Game 1: For the second consecutive game, the big three combination of Autumn Kissman, Jalisha Terry and Kahlaijah Dean each reached double figures combining for 49 points to lead Oakland to a 78-62 win. Kissman posted her second straight double-double with 13 points and a career-high 14 rebounds while Terry added a game-high 19 points followed by Dean with 17 points. Kayla Luchenbach also added 10 points. This quartet of players also combined to grab 30 of Oakland's 38 rebounds.
 
Dean and Blackwell Earn Horizon League Honors: Kahlaijah Dean earned Horizon League Sixth Player of the Year and All-League Third Team honors while Alona Blackwell was named to the All-Freshman Team as voted on by the league's 10 head coaches and announced by the league office on Monday. This marks the second consecutive year Dean has earned All-League honors after being named to the All-Freshman Team last season. She also becomes the second Oakland student-athlete to be named Sixth Player of the Year since Taylor Jones earned the honor during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.
 
Last time out: Kayla Luchenbach and Alona Blackwell each scored 13 points as Oakland battled to the final shot before coming up short, 67-65, against visiting Northern Kentucky to close out the regular season on Saturday. Kahlaijah Dean and Teneea Heston added eight and seven points off the bench respectively. Jalisha Terry also chipped in with seven points while Blackwell dished out a career-high five assists.

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