Rochester, Mich - Oakland scored their biggest win of the season, knocking off the top Horizon League team in Green Bay for their sixth win at home.
The Golden Grizzlies flipped the switch from their last game, starting out on fire on the offensive end. Oakland was able to penetrate the interior of the Green Bay defense, hitting four of their first six shots. Miriam Ibezim anchored the post on both ends, converting an and-one with 6:54 left in the quarter. Linda Van Schaik knocked down her first shot of the game in the form of a deep three from the wing to tie the game at eight a piece with 6:21 left in the quarter.
Alexis Johnson and Brooke Quarles-Daniels would score five straight points for Oakland in the final 30 seconds, closing the gap to five points. With the teams trading buckets in a fast paced showing, The Phoenix held the slight edge at the end of one, outsourcing the Golden Grizzlies eight to five in the final two minutes to take a 20-27 lead at the end of quarter number one.
Green Bay kept up with Oakland offensively, moving the ball through Oakland's zone finding open triples often, going 3-of-5 (.600) from deep in the opening frame. Oakland had a very efficient quarter from the floor as well, shooting 8-of-16 from the field, and 3-of-6 from deep (.500), creating high quality shot opportunities on almost every possesion.
Even with an early deficit, Oakland looked sharp and focused through ten minutes, not backing down on any level to the Phoenix.
Oakland's bench outscored Green Bay's 21 to six in the opening half, largely due to Oakland's leading second-unit scorer Kennedie Monute's big second quarter. The junior guard started the second quarter with her own personal 7-0 run, hitting back-to-back triples with 7:40 left in the half to bring the Golden Grizzlies within two (27-29).
The Golden Grizzlies would take their first lead of the game as Montue slid a slick dime to a cutting Quarles-Daniels with 2:54 left in the first half, capping off a 10-3 Oakland run putting them up 37-36.
Oakland continued to carry the momentum as Maddy Skorupski flipped up a smooth right-handed layup to cap off a 8-0 Oakland run, growing the lead to 45-38 with 1:06
The Golden Grizzlies' physicality seemed to be shocking the Phoenix, getting into the bonus early and going 9-of-11 from the free throw line in the second quarter. The Golden Grizzlies outscored Green Bay 10-2 in the final two minutes, taking a 47-40 lead into halftime.
Montue led all scorers after 20 minutes, posting 15 points on 4-0f-5 shooting. Quarles-Daniels also finished the half in double-figures with 11 points, adding four rebounds and three assists to her stat sheet stuffing half.
Oakland had one of their best shooting halves of the season, hitting .571 FG% (16-of-28). Green Bay also shot over .500 on the half, but slumped in the second quarter, going just 5-of-13 (.385) as a result of Oakland's defense swarming and creating more deflections and disruptions in the Phoenix offense.
The Golden Grizzlies also controlled the glass, outrebounding Green Bay 18 to six in the opening half.
Just 20 minutes away from one of the largest upsets of the season, Oakland would need to keep up their scrappy and consistent play in the second half.
Coming out the break the Golden Grizzlies went a bit cold, scoring just one point in the first three minutes of the half. Green Bay sparked a 10-0 run as Maren Westin hit a triple to tie the game at 48 with 7:30 remaining. Ibezim would break the cold spell for Oakland, converting a putback layup to retake the lead for the Golden Grizzlies at 50-48 with 7:02 remaining.
Quarles-Daniels fueled the fire for Oakland to restart the offense, scoring five consecutive points as an and-one layup with 4:09 netted her 16th points of the game and a 57-49 lead for the Golden Grizzlies.
The Phoenix would close out the quarter on a 7-0 run, as Cassie Schultz converted a sweeping lefty and-one layup with 43 seconds left in the quarter, cutting Oakland's lead to just two (62-60) headed into the final quarter of a tight game.
Green Bay stayed hot, starting the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run, retaking the lead at 66-64 after a Jasmine Kondrakiewicz layup with 6:39 left in the game. quarles-Daniels put a halt to the run, with another and-one and continuing her monster night, cutting the Phoenix lead to just one at 67-68 with 5:50 remaining.
Oakland went cold at a bad time, starting the quarter 2-of-7 (.286) from the field, while Green Bay caught fire at the same time, starting 4-of-8 (.500) from the floor in the fourth.
Fouls hurt the Golden Grizzlies down the stretch, with Van Schaik and Ibezim picking up their fourth fouls early in the final quarter, also putting Green Bay into the bonus for the final five minutes of the game.
With the game neck-and-neck down the stretch, the two offensive leaders for Oakland would step up yet again, as Quarles-Daniels hit a fading runner, followed by a Montue and-one layup with 3:24 left in the quarter to make the score 72-73 in favor of Green Bay.
With time working against Oakland for a comeback, Natalie McNeal would hit a late and-one jumper for Green Bay, opening the lead up to four (74-78) with just under two minutes remaining.
Despite a late Oakland push, including yet another huge bucket by Montue to make the score 79-81 with 31 seconds left in the game. Green Bay would miss several key free throws in the final minutes, including a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left, holding the score at 79-81, leaving the door open for an Oakland game winner.
Montue would step up in a huge way, weaving her way through the lane for a clutch layup, tying the game at 81 with 25 seconds left. After a foul on the other end by Oakland, Green Bay stepped to the line and missed a pair of critical free throws as part of a 9-of-17 free throw shooting final quarter, missing their final six attempts from the stripe.
With one last possession to win the game for Oakland, tied at 81, Quarles-Daniels added to a career-best night, hitting a contested layup over the stretched out arms of several Green Bay defenders, giving Oakland an 83-81 lead with 1.7 seconds left.
The Golden Grizzlies shut off a Green Bay inbounds play to seal their victory, giving The Phoenix their first in-conference loss of the season.
"We wanted to play loose, be loyal to who we are. Green Bay had everything to lose, being on top. The biggest thing for us was to get them in an uncomfortable state and we did that all game", said Acting head Coach Deanna Richard.
Quarles-Daniels is no stranger to game-winners, adding this go-ahead shot to her game-winner against Detroit Mercy last season to an impressive list of clutch shots.
Quarles-Daniels and Montue had career-best scoring nights for Oakland, combining for 50 points as Quarles-Daniels scored 27 (11-of-14), adding two steals and seven rebounds to her totals, and Montue ended with 23 points (7-of-13), three steals, and four rebounds.
"Their confidence and willingness to score makes them so special. With Brooke and Kennedie scoring, everybody else feeds off of that. They're very emotional, which is amazing and gets people fired up. They bring energy up for the whole team", said Richard.
This is Oakland's second win of the season over an opponent who was top three in the Horizon League.
Richard exclaimed about how special this team can be, saying "It's nights like tonight where I think they can see their potential. We only had one day to prep for this game, and they paid attention to detail and executed the game plan to a T".
Oakland can now take a little break after an emotionally taxing game, not playing another game until Thursday, Jan. 25 when they host Cleveland State for the final game of a four-game Blacktop home stand.
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