ROCHESTER, Mich. – After finishing a four-game road swing with a 3-1 mark, the Oakland women's basketball team returns home with a pair of games against new Horizon League member Fort Wayne on Friday, Jan. 22 at 3 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 23 at 1 p.m. Both games are presented by United Wholesale Mortgage and will be broadcast live from the Blacktop at the O'rena on ESPN+ with Jason Ross Jr. on the call.


 
Notes:
LAST TIME OUT:
EIGHT AND COUNTING = METRO SERIES SWEEP: Oakland continued its dominance over arch-rival Detroit Mercy with a series road sweep (1/15 & 1/16). The Golden Grizzlies now lead the overall series 18-15 including winning the last eighth consecutive meetings with a 12-4 mark in Metro Series match ups.
 
BIG THREE TAKEOVER: In game one at Detroit Mercy, Kahlaijah Dean, Autumn Kissman and Alona Blackwell combined for 51 points to lead Oakland to its seventh consecutive Metro Series win over Detroit Mercy in convincing fashion, 80-61, at Calihan Hall. Dean scored a team-high 18 points with six assists and three steals followed by Kissman who scored 17 points shooting a blistering 8-for-10 from the field. Blackwell was the third player in double figures with 16 points and six rebounds.
 
SHARING IS CARING: The Golden Grizzlies dished out a season-high 23 assists on 32 made baskets in the game one win over the Titans (1/15).
 
KISSMAN DELIVERS PURE PRODUCTIVITY VS DETROIT MERCY: Autumn Kissman averaged 17.5 ppg shooting a blistering 16-for-20 (80.0%) from the field over a two-game clip leading Oakland to a Metro Series weekend sweep over arch-rival Detroit Mercy marking the Golden Grizzlies' seventh and eighth consecutive win over the Titans. In game one, Kissman scored 17 points going 8-for-10 from the field with four rebounds in the 80-61 win. The next day, she scored a game-high 18 points just missing her career-high of 19 by one point while shooting 8-for-10 from the field for the second straight game which included hitting a career-best 2-for-3 from 3-point range in the 71-61 series finale victory.


 
CENTURY CLUB: With the sweep at Detroit Mercy, head coach Jeff Tungate has 96 career wins just four shy of 100.
 
A LOOK PURDUE FORT WAYNE: Purdue Fort Wayne is winless on the season at 0-10 in conference play and 0-12 overall. Sophomore guard Riley Ott leads the team in points (10.7) and assists (2.0) (followed by freshman guard Jadia Wolfork who leads the team in rebounds (5.0).
 
SEASON REWIND VS THE DONS
12/22/15: Taylor Jones scored a career-high 25 points while Olivia Nash posted her third double-double of the season with a season-high 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead Oakland to a 81-74 win over visiting IPFW on the Blacktop at the O'rena.
 
11/19/16: Hannah Little recorded her first double-double in a Golden Grizzly uniform while leading all scorers with 22 points and 14 rebounds as the Oakland women's basketball team scored 30 fourth quarter points on 12-for-17 shooting (71%) to defeat Fort Wayne at Memorial Coliseum.
 
FIVE-TOOL THREAT: Kahlaijah Dean leads the team in scoring (15.6 ppg – 4th HL), rebounds (4.8 – 20th HL), assists (4.0 – 3rd HL) and steals (2.2 – 4th HL). She also ranks eighth in the league in field goal percentage (39.2%).
 
DYNAMIC DUO: Dean and Blackwell are the only two players averaging in double figures at 15.6 ppg and 11.5 ppg respectively. Dean is shooting 39.2% (8th-HL) from the field while Blackwell is shooting at a 35.1% clip. Dean has reached double figures 10 times followed by Blackwell at eight.
 
DROPPIN' DIMES: Oakland ranks second in the Horizon League in assists per game (14.54) and 36th nationally in total assists (189) while Dean (4.0) and Brianna Breedy (2.8) are first and second on team and rank third and 11th in the league respectively.
 
GETTIN' BUCKETS: Oakland ranks fourth in the league in scoring (67.2 ppg) and seventh in field goal percentage (39.1).
 
DIAL IT UP FROM LONG RANGE: Blackwell leads the team and ranks third in the league in 3-point field goals per game (2.2) and second in the league and 12th nationally in 3-pointers attempted (92). As a team, Oakland is second in the league and ranks 38th nationally in 3-pointers attempted (285) and is fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (30.2%). Dean is fourth in the league in 3-point attempts (65).
 
PASS/PROTECT THE ROCK: Oakland ranks third in the league in assist/turnover ratio (0.91) and second in turnover margin (1.92).
 
CHARITY STRIPE PRODUCTION: Dean leads the conference and is 35th in the country in free throw attempts (69) while ranking 11th in the league in free throw percentage (71.0).
 
I'LL TAKE THAT: Oakland ranks fifth in turnovers forced (17.92) and ninth in steals per game (7.69).
 
CRASH THE BOARDS: The Golden Grizzlies rank fourth in offensive rebounds (12.2) and are eighth in defensive rebounds (22.4) and sixth in total rebounds per game (34.6).
 
GUARD THE ARC: The Golden Grizzlies also rank fifth in the league in 3-point field goal percentage defense (29.6).
 
GET THAT OUTTA HERE: Individually, Perry leads the team in blocks (7) followed by Autumn Kissman (4), Chloe Guingrich (3) and Kayla Luchenbach (3).
 
DO IT ALL DEAN: Against Detroit Mercy, Dean averaged 17.5 points, 7.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals helping Oakland to a Metro Series sweep. In game one, she had 18 points, six assists and three steals followed by 17 points, three steals while matching a career-best eight assists in game two. She averaged 16.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists against No. 25 MSU and Green Bay. She had 15 points at MSU and matched a season-high with 28 points connecting on 5-of-12 from 3-point range in Oakland's overtime setback to Green Bay. Dean averaged 18.5 points and 5.5 rebounds to lead Oakland to a split at Wight State. She scored 19 of her 20 points in the second half with six rebounds and two assists to lead the Golden Grizzlies to the historic 75-69 win. Against UIC, she averaged 18.0 points, with 16 rebounds (8.0), 10 assists (5.0) to lead Oakland to a weekend sweep to open Horizon League play. She poured in a game-high 28 points, just missing her career-high of 30.
 
"B" SQUAD CHECK IN:
BEATTY HEATS UP: Breanne Beatty matched a career-high in rebounds (11) and assists (5) helping Oakland sweep arch-rival Detroit Mercy (1/15). She also posted a career-high 15 points going 5-for-8 from the field hitting a career-best three 3-pointers in the first half at Youngstown State (1/9).
 
BP BLOCK PARTY: In just four games, Temple transfer Breanna Perry leads the team in blocks (7) having already recording three blocks in a game twice at YSU (1/9) and at Detroit Mercy (1/15).
 
SEASON DEBUT: Missing the first 10 games due to injury, Perry made her season debut at YSU on limited minutes at the end of each quarter. She scored five points in both games hitting a 3-pointer each time with two free throws and three blocks in game two defensively.
 
BREEDY POSTS CAREER HIGH IN UIC SWEEP: Brianna Breedy posted a career-high 16 points hitting a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc while going 5-for-6 from the free-throw line to lead Oakland to a series sweep over UIC in Horizon League play (12/13).
 
BLACKWELL BLASTS OFF VS ROCKETS: Alona Blackwell poured in a career-high 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting as the Golden Grizzlies fell, 71-59, at Toledo (11/29). She also matched a career-best with four rebounds.

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