FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The program's second game in three days and their sixth of seven-straight away from the friendly confines of the O'rena, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies will square off with the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center on Sunday, December 4 at 2 p.m.

Dropping their Horizon League opener to the Cleveland State Vikings on Friday, December 2, Oakland enters play at 3-4, while the Mastodons are 4-4 and defeated the Detroit Mercy Titans in their first conference tilt.

Starting each of the last two contests after coming off the bench for the first five, junior forward Alexis Johnson leads the Golden Grizzlies in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 10.5 points and 4.7 boards per game.

Coinciding with Johnson becoming a starter was Linda van Schaik moving to a reserve role, but the junior and Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks transfer has responded with some of the best basketball of her career, tallying 31 points and 10 rebounds over the last two games, highlighted by a team-best this season 22 in the win over the Stonehill Skyhawks on November 27.

van Schaik's 9.8 points-per-game are second on the squad, with sophomore Kennedie Montue, senior Breanne Beatty and freshman Brooke Daniels all also contributing at least nine per night.

SCOUTING PURDUE FORT WAYNE
Coached by Maria Marchesano, who is in her second season after leading the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021, the Mastodons were picked eighth in the Preseason Horizon League Poll, checking in right behind Oakland.

Junior guard Amellia Bromenschenkel paces Purdue Fort Wayne at 13.9 points-per-game, more than double the next closest Mastodon, sophomore Ryin Ott at 6.9.

Aurora, Ohio's Shayla Sellers, a senior guard and Preseason Second Team All-League selection, is pitching in across the board, giving Purdue Fort Wayne 6.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists.

TELEVISION AND LIVE STATS LINKS
Sunday's action will air live on ESPN+ (subscription required), and can be accessed at this link.

Additionally, the Live Stats are available here.

ALL-TIME SERIES AND LAST MEETING
First battling nearly 15 years ago on January 19, 2008, the Golden Grizzlies and Mastodons have played 19 times with Oakland owning a 12-7 edge.

In the last meeting, a 58-54 Golden Grizzly victory at the O'rena on February 19, 2022, then-junior Breanne Beatty led the way with 14 points, with senior Kahlaijah Dean adding 13.

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.