ROCHESTER, Mich. – The second of a four-game homestand and the program's second game in three days, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies worked their way back from a double-digit second-half deficit but dropped an exciting contest to the Youngstown State Penguins, 68-67, in overtime on Saturday, January 7.
Oakland now falls one game back below the .500 mark at 7-8 and 2-4 in the Horizon League, while the Penguins move to 11-4 and 5-1 in conference action.
Hit with two offensive fouls in the first 6:01 of the game, freshman point guard
Brooke Daniels ended up with 18 points for the Golden Grizzlies, 15 of which came after the halftime break.
Junior forward
Alexis Johnson also had 18, with classmate
Linda van Schaik adding 13 and senior
Breanne Beatty finishing with 11 on 9-9 at the free throw line and eight rebounds.
Fifth-year senior Lilly Ritz, one of the top players in the Horizon League, led the charge for Youngstown State with 18 points on 9-14 shooting and 17 rebounds in 37 minutes. She was joined in double figures by fellow seniors Megan Callahan and Shy Paige, both of whom had 13.
The Penguins were ahead by five, 29-24, at the half and stretched their lead to a game-high 13 when junior guard Malia Magestro buried the second of back-to-back triples with 6:59 to play in the third.
Oakland cut the margin to eight by the end of the frame and tied the tilt at 56 on a 3-pointer by freshman
Cam Grant with 3:37 remaining in regulation. The Golden Grizzlies took a two-point lead, 61-59, on a Daniels layup with 25 seconds left, but Callahan was able to draw a foul for Youngstown State with 16 ticks to play and knocked down both foul shots to send the contest to overtime.
Johnson hit a pair of free throws for Oakland with 32 seconds remaining in the extra session to even things back up at 67, but just as she had done at the end of the fourth quarter, Callahan found a way to reach the free throw line with seven seconds left and hit the front end to put the Penguins back up by one, 68-67, a total that would ultimately stand.
Graduate student
Raquel Ferrer-Bernad tried to put up a possible game-winner with the clock running down for the Golden Grizzlies, but Youngstown State did a good job of contesting the look and time expired, allowing the Penguins to hang on and retain a share of second place in the conference standings.
As a team, Oakland was 20-67 (29.9 percent) from the floor, including a solid 33.3 percent (5-15) from 3-point range. The Golden Grizzlies were also 22-30 (73.3 percent) at the foul line.
Both teams tallied 37 rebounds and Youngstown State registered 11 assists to Oakland's 10.
GRIZZVISION WITH SYDNEY CARIEL AND HEAD COACH JEFF TUNGATE
Handling the sideline reporting duties for Saturday's ESPN+ broadcast, Sydney Cariel spoke with Golden Grizzlies head coach
Jeff Tungate postgame.
UP NEXT
Continuing their stay at the O'rena, the Golden Grizzlies will next be in action on Friday, January 13 when the Northern Kentucky Norse visit at 7 p.m.
Falling to the Green Bay Phoenix, 70-53, on Saturday in Highland Heights, the Norse are 9-6 and 3-3 in the Horizon League, one game ahead of Oakland in the conference standings.
