ROCHESTER, Mich. – Dipping a game back below .500 at 10-11 and 5-7 in the Horizon League, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies were defeated by the Cleveland State Vikings, 72-51, in a National Girls & Women in Sports Day battle at the O'rena on Saturday, January 28.
Retaining a share of first place in the conference, Cleveland State moves to 19-3 (10-2).
Freshman point guard
Brooke Quarles-Daniels was the lone Golden Grizzly in double figures with 14 points and eight rebounds, her eighth-straight game with at least 13.
Junior
Linda van Schaik had nine points and two boards off the bench, and senior
Breanne Beatty and sophomore
Kennedie Montue both finished with eight points. Standout
Alexis Johnson, another junior, tallied six points and five rebounds.
Willowick, Ohio's Destiny Leo, a junior and the Preseason Horizon League Player of the Year, led the Vikings with 23 points, including a perfect 12-12 from the free throw line. Senior forward Brittni Moore, a native of Memphis, Tennessee, had 15 points and seven rebounds and classmate Amele Ngwafang registered a double-double with 12 and 12.
Saturday's action was whistle-heavy, with the two teams combining to commit 55 fouls, 34 on Oakland and 21 on Cleveland State.
Paced by Leo's dozen attempts, the Vikings shot 46 free throws, making 29 of them (63 percent). The Golden Grizzlies recorded just 14 foul shots, hitting eight (57.1 percent).
A low-scoring affair throughout the first 20 minutes, the two were tied at 11 at the end of the first quarter and Oakland took a one-point advantage, 27-26, into the half.
Following the halftime performance by fLipSpot Gymnastics and Cheer and punctuated by a Leo 3-pointer at the 3:51 mark, Cleveland State began the third quarter on a 17-8 run to give themselves a double-digit lead, 44-34.
The Golden Grizzlies cut it to eight by the end of the frame, but the Vikings opened it up over the final 10 minutes to complete a four-game road trip with consecutive victories.
Cleveland State won the rebounding battle, 45-35, and both squads ended with 11 assists.
UP NEXT
Continuing a four-game stay at home, Oakland's next action will come in the month of February when the Milwaukee Panthers visit on Friday the 3
rd at 7 p.m.
Also 5-7 in the conference, the Panthers are 7-13 overall and tied with the Golden Grizzlies for seventh in the Horizon League standings.