ROCHESTER, Mich. – Completing the Metro Series season sweep and snapping a four-game skid, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies picked up a 66-65 Senior Night victory over the Detroit Mercy Titans on Monday, February 20 at the O'rena.
Tying them with the Milwaukee Panthers for seventh in the Horizon League standings, Oakland is now 12-15 and 7-11 in conference action.
Detroit Mercy drops to 5-22 and is at the bottom of the Horizon League at 3-15.
The Golden Grizzlies held three-point leads after both the second and third quarters, but the Titans stormed back to go up five, 59-54, with 6:12 to play on a layup by West Bloomfield freshman point guard Myonna Hooper.
Culminating in a free throw by senior
Breanne Beatty with 3:14 left, Oakland tied the game with a 5-0 run and the two teams went right down to the wire with Locust Grove, Georgia senior Imani McNeal putting Detroit Mercy back in front, 65-64, with 11 seconds remaining on a strong take to her left.
Finishing one point shy of matching her career-high and following a timeout by head coach
Jeff Tungate, freshman point guard
Brooke Quarles-Daniels took a pass from Beatty, drove to her left, spun back to the center and hit the right-handed eventual game-winner with 4.5 seconds to go.
First-year Titans head coach Kate Achter would take a timeout of her own to try and draw up an answer, but Detroit Mercy could not attempt a shot before the clock ran out and the Golden Grizzlies emerged victorious in their final home game of the regular season.
Quarles-Daniels led Oakland with 19 points, while terrific junior
Alexis Johnson added 15 and eight rebounds and
Linda van Schaik, a fellow junior, had 14, her best showing in a month-and-a-half.
Titans junior Irene Murua paced all scorers with 23 points and nine boards and sophomore Emma Trawally Porta had an impressive night, finishing with 16 points and 16 rebounds.
Largely due to Trawally Porta's effort, Detroit Mercy outrebouned the Golden Grizzlies, 39-29, but Oakland distributed 10 assists to the Titans' nine.
SENIOR NIGHT CEREMONIES
Beatty and guard
Raquel Ferrer-Bernad were the two Golden Grizzlies to participate in Monday's Senior Night festivities, being honored before the game with a framed jersey of their numbers – 10 and 2, respectively – while public address announcer Kevin Beers read some of their notable accomplishments.
Mike and Lynn Beatty, Breanne's parents, joined her on the court for the pregame ceremony, but Raquel's Spanish-speaking parents, Jordi Ferrer and Merce Bernad, still live in her native Spain.
Ferrer and Bernad still found a way to mark their mark on the night, though, as Oakland University Athletics aired a postgame video they had recorded for Raquel for Senior Night on the scoreboard.
Tungate spoke to the crowd about each of the two postgame, as well, talking glowingly about both and setting up the surprise video for Ferrer-Bernad.
UP NEXT
Rounding out the 2022-23 regular season, Oakland will play their final two games on the road, beginning with a Thursday, February 23 date with the Wright State Raiders at 6 p.m. at the Nutter Center.
In 10
th place in the conference, Wright State is 5-23 (4-14).
