DETROIT, Mich. – Concluding a 3-1 homestand with a 73-68 victory over the Wright State Raiders on Sunday, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies will hit the road for their next two contests beginning with a Wednesday, January 18 clash with the Detroit Mercy Titans at Calihan Hall at 7 p.m.

The win over the Raiders moved Oakland back above .500 on the season at 9-8 and back to even in Horizon League play at 4-4, while Detroit Mercy will enter Wednesday at 3-14 (1-7) and on a two-game skid.

Earning her third Nike #HLWBB Freshman of the Week Award for her consecutive double-double performances against the Northern Kentucky Norse and Wright State, point guard Brooke Quarles-Daniels has scored in double figures in four-straight and is second on the team at 10.7 points-per-game, trailing only junior forward Alexis Johnson's 11.2

Senior Breanne Beatty completes the trio of Golden Grizzlies averaging double-digit points, tallying an even 10, and junior Linda van Schaik is close at 9.4.

Sophomores Aaliyah McQueen and Kennedie Montue also contributed throughout the most recent homestand, as the former registered at least six points in two of the four games and the latter has knocked down three triples over the last two contests.

TITANS RUNDOWN
Led by first-year head coach Kate Achter, a former All-Mid-American Conference (MAC) player during her days with the Bowling Green Falcons, Detroit Mercy was picked to finish 11^th in the Preseason Horizon League Coaches Poll.

Junior forward Irene Murua is the lone Titan averaging double figures at 11.1 points-per-game, with freshman Amaya Burch and senior Imani McNeal next on the list at 8.4 and 8.6, respectively.

The only Detroit Mercy player to start all 17 contests, Murua also paces the squad in rebounding at 8.6 per game.

As a team, the Titans are scoring 53.4 points-per-contest, the fewest in the conference, and allowing 73.8.

TELEVISION AND LIVE STATS LINKS
Wednesday's action will air live on ESPN+ (subscription required) and can be accessed here.

Additionally, the Live Stats are available at this link.

ALL-TIME SERIES AND LAST MEETING
Dating over 23 years to December 28, 1999, Oakland has battled Detroit Mercy 26 times with the Golden Grizzlies holding a 17-9 edge, including 10 consecutive victories.

In the most recent showdown, which also came at Calihan Hall, Oakland utilized a fourth-quarter comeback in a 66-62 triumph on January 22, 2022.

Beatty, then a junior, had a game-high 17 points for the Golden Grizzlies.

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 Quarles-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, 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 126, 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.