EAST LANSING, Mich. – Opening their season with consecutive home victories over Mid-American Conference (MAC) programs Akron and Central Michigan, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies will hit the road for the first time in 2022-23 on Tuesday, November 15 as they make the trip to the Breslin Center in East Lansing to face the Michigan State Spartans at 7 p.m.

A member of the Big Ten Conference (B1G), Michigan State is 3-0 this season, routing the Western Michigan Broncos, 97-49, in their most recent action on Sunday, November 13. Oakland will be the second Horizon League opponent the Spartans have faced on the young campaign, as they previously bested the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons, 85-53, on November 10.

BROOKE DANIELS AND ALEXIS JOHNSON OFF TO STRONG STARTS
Having five different players score in double figures in at least one of their first two games, the Golden Grizzlies have employed a balanced offensive attack this season, featuring young women who can both finish in the paint and hit from behind the 3-point arc.

Two of these five who have been in double-digits at least once are freshman Brooke Daniels and junior forward Alexis Johnson, who has accomplished the feat in each of the first two contests.

Both coming off the bench, Daniels has split time with graduate student Raquel Ferrer-Bernad at the point guard spot and has tallied 15 points, six assists and five rebounds across 38 minutes on the year. Johnson, meanwhile, has 24 points and 13 boards in her 53 minutes, and finished one rebound shy of a double-double in Oakland's November 12 win over the Chippewas.

RUNDOWN ON MICHIGAN STATE
Coached by 16-year veteran Suzy Merchant, who began her coaching career as an assistant at Oakland under Bob Taylor from 1992-95, the Spartans made the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament in both 2019 and 2021.

The 2021-22 edition of Michigan State went 15-15 (8-9), falling to the Iowa Hawkeyes in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament.

One of four Spartans averaging at least 10 points-per-game, Swedish sophomore Matilda Ekh leads the way at 12, followed by senior and Saginaw Heritage graduate Moira Joiner at 11.3, graduate student Kamaria McDaniel at 10.7 and another senior, Cleveland, Ohio's Taiyier Parks, at an even 10.

Joiner has reached her 11.3 points-per-game coming off the bench, while the other three are all starters for Merchant.

6-foot-3 reserve sophomore forward Isaline Alexander is another name to keep an eye on, as the native Canadian is giving Michigan State eight points and 6.7 rebounds in about 16.5 minutes-per-game.

As a side note for those that enjoy following high school basketball in Oakland and Macomb Counties, freshman Maddy Skorupski – an Associated Press First Team All-State selection for the Clarkston Wolves in 2021-22 after averaging 26.6 points, including pouring in a school-record 42 in a regional semifinal victory over the rival Lake Orion Dragons on March 8 – joined the Spartans as a walk-on guard this season.

ALL-TIME SERIES AND LAST MEETING
First battling on December 15, 2001, the Golden Grizzlies are still looking for their first-ever win over Michigan State, having come up empty in their previous 13 tries.

There have been some close calls, though, such as a 55-53 Spartan victory in that December 2001 meeting and a seven-point game on December 2, 2016.

In their last clash, which came just under a year ago at the O'rena on November 26, 2021, Michigan State held off Oakland, 84-71, behind a combined 40 points from senior Nia Clouden and Ehk, then a freshman.

TELEVISION AND SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE
Tuesday's action will air live on BTN+ (subscription required), and can be accessed here.

Additionally, the Live Stats can be viewed using this link.

SEASON-LONG STORYLINES

NEW FACES FOR GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
Faced with the graduations of Kahlaijah Dean, Kayla Luchenbach and Brianna Breedy, who combined to average 28.7 points and 9.9 rebounds last season, the Golden Grizzlies brought in a trio of diversely talented transfers in Raquel Ferrer-Bernad, Alexis Johnson and Linda Van Schaik.

A Southfield A&T Warriors graduate, Johnson is a junior forward who played three seasons in Conference USA (C-USA) for the Marshall Thundering Herd, while Ferrer-Bernad is a graduate student point guard who came from a different C-USA program, the Florida International Panthers.

Van Schaik, another junior, joined Oakland by way of the Sun Belt Conference's Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks and projects to provide the team with another 3-point shooting threat.

On top of the program's work in the transfer portal, the Golden Grizzlies' 2022 recruiting class features a couple of high-upside players in guard Brooke Daniels, a Miss Michigan Basketball candidate a year ago from L'Anse Creuse North, and Lianna Baxter, a 6-foot-1 forward who starred at Oconto and is one of the top-100 scorers in Wisconsin high school history.

BREANNE BEATTY HEADLINES GROUP OF RETURNING PLAYERS
Appearing in all 83 of the program's games over the last three seasons, and starting all but two of them, senior guard/forward Breanne Beatty was named to the Preseason All-Horizon League Second Team on October 18.

The pride of Worthington, Ohio, Beatty is Oakland's leading returning scorer at 9.7 points-per-game in 2021-22.

In addition to Beatty, junior guard Sug Williams and guards Kennedie Montue and Aaliyah McQueen and forward Miriam Ibezim, all of whom of sophomores, are back with the program and are in line to contribute significantly right from the season's opening tip.

JEFF TUNGATE ENTERS 10^TH SEASON
Named the eighth head coach in program history on July 16, 2013, the 2022-23 campaign is the 10^th with Jeff Tungate at the helm.

Third on the school's all-time wins list with 106, Tungate and four-year veteran assistant Crystal Davis made some changes to the coaching staff ahead of this season, bringing in Golden Grizzly Hall of Famer and former Mercyhurst Lakers head coach Deanna Richard and Tim Webb, who has extensive coaching experience at both the high school and collegiate levels in Michigan, as assistant coaches.