HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Hitting a season-high 13 3-pointers, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies put the finishing touch on their 2022-23 regular season with a 79-76 victory over the Northern Kentucky Norse on Saturday, February 25 at Truist Arena.

Taking both regular season meetings from the Norse this year, Oakland moves to 13-16 and finishes 8-12 in the Horizon League. Northern Kentucky, meanwhile, went an even 10-10 in the conference and is now 16-13.

Finishing 5-7 from behind the long line, graduate student guard Raquel Ferrer-Bernad led the Golden Grizzlies with a career-high 18 points in 29 minutes off the bench.

Four other Oakland players also reached double-digit points, with junior Linda van Schaik tallying 14, freshman Brooke Quarles-Daniels and fellow junior Alexis Johnson both ending with 12 and senior Breanne Beatty contributing 11.

Graduate student Lindsey Duvall poured in a game-high 30 points for the Norse, enough for her to jump Youngstown State Penguins fifth-year senior Lilly Ritz and become the second-leading scorer in the Horizon League this season at 17.7 points-per-contest, trailing only Cleveland State Vikings junior Destiny Leo's 17.9.

Sophomore Khamari Mitchell-Steen, senior Ivy Turner and Kailee Davis, another sophomore, also scored in double figures for Northern Kentucky, recording 11, 13 and 14, respectively.

The Golden Grizzlies led by one, 14-13, after one quarter of play, but the Norse took a 38-35 lead into the halftime break.

Northern Kentucky held a four-point advantage, 44-40, with 7:19 remaining in the third quarter, but Oakland went on a 24-10 run over the next 6:14 to take a 10-point lead and ended the frame up 11.

Courtesy of one of van Schaik's three triples, the Golden Grizzlies took a 74-60 lead, their largest of the afternoon, with 7:38 to play. With Duvall, Mitchell-Steen and Turner combining for 16 points in the fourth, however, the Norse clawed their way back and moved within two, 78-76, on an and-1 by Duvall with 1:21 left.

Johnson scored the game's final point on a free throw with two seconds remaining to extend the Oakland cushion to three but missed the back end, allowing Northern Kentucky to grab the rebound and call timeout with one tick to play.

Coming out of the timeout, Duvall's last-gasp 3-pointer was off the mark and the Golden Grizzlies picked up their first road victory since a January 18 triumph over the Detroit Mercy Titans at Calihan Hall.

With Ferrer-Bernad, Johnson and van Schaik collectively responsible for 11 3-pointers, Oakland shot 39.4 percent (13-33) from distance and 70.6 percent (12-17) from the free throw line.

The Norse won the rebounding battle, 37-35, but the Golden Grizzlies distributed 17 assists to Northern Kentucky's 13.

2023 BARBASOL HORIZON LEAGUE TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
With Saturday marking the end of the regular season across the conference, the bracket for the 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Women's Basketball Tournament is officially set.

Finishing in eighth place in the regular season standings, Oakland will host the 9-seed Wright State Raiders in a first-round game on Tuesday, February 28 at 7 p.m.

Here are each of the Tuesday first-round games, with the higher seed serving as the home team (all times Eastern):

6 Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons vs. 11 Detroit Mercy Titans – 7 p.m.
8 Oakland Golden Grizzlies vs. 9 Wright State Raiders – 7 p.m.
7 Milwaukee Panthers vs. 10 Robert Morris Colonials – 8 p.m.

A link to the 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Women's Basketball Tournament bracket is available here.