INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Oakland headed into the jungle to tame the Jags in game one of a three-game road trip.

The Jags and Golden Grizzlies opened up the Sunday contests trading buckets in the early going, alternating buckets for the first nine possessions. 

Miriam Ibezim was active early, making two trips to the free throw line and being her usual active self on the boards in the first few minutes.

The Golden Grizzlies came to play on the defensive end, holding IUPUI scoreless for over four minutes from 4:52 to 0:42 left in the quarter. While their defense forced IUPUI to miss nine of their last 10 shots, Oakland launched a 7-0 run Kennedie Montue knocked down her first triple of the game to give Oakland a 13-10 lead with 2:43 remaining.

IUPUI would break their scoreless drought as their lead scorer, Kate Davidson, knocked down a floater with 0:42 left in the first stanza, cutting the Golden Grizzlies lead to one (13-12) at the end of the first quarter.

Neither team started the game hot on offense, with IUPUI shooting .300 (6-of-20) from the floor and Oakland going .263 (5-of-19).

The offensive woes disappeared quickly for the Golden grizzlies, as they opened the second quarter on fire! Markyia McCormick raised her point total to seven, scoring Oakland's first five points of the second quarter, starting a 9-0 stretch for the Golden Grizzlies. Madison Royal-Davis scored a nifty layup off of a heady steal on an IUPUI inbounds, and Alexis Johnson would score her first points of the game with a jumper to cap the run and give Oakland a 22-12 lead with 8:02 left in the opening half.

IUPUI would pull closer in the final minutes of the half behind 10 first-half points from Abby Woleterman, but Oakland would take a 33-27 lead at the end of the first 20 minutes.

The game in the second quarter would heavily rely on the free throw line. The teams combined for 17 free throws in the quarter, with Oakladn going 8-of-13 (.615) while IUPUI went 9-of-14 (.643). 
The Golden Grizzlies' early second quarter burst served as the differentiator in the half. McCormick led all Oakland scorers with nine points (3-of-8) in the first half. Ibezim pitched in six points and nine rebounds in the half, helping Oakland take a 32 to 22 rebound advantage. Maddy Skorupski had a very impactful half as well, flying around on the defensive end with a number of deflections and disruptions as she earned five points and a steal in the opening half.

IUPUI shot just 9-of-31 (.290) over the first 20 minutes. The Jags failed to knock down a three in the half as well, going 0-of-8 from deep.

The Jags responded to a tough first half with an aggressive start to the third quarter, outsourcing Oakland 8-3 for a three minute stretch. Katie Davidson heated up as she scored her 14th points of the game on a layup with 5:50 left in the quarter. Quarles-Daniels would halt the IUPUI run with an and-one layup to put Oakland up 41-35 with 4:50 remaining in the quarter.

With the offenses continuing to struggle on both sides, Oakland's defense stayed poignant and kept them ahead. The Golden Grizzlies forced the Jags to another long scoreless streak, as IUPUI went over three minutes in the middle of the third quarter without a score. Oakland packed in their defense, almost daring IUPUI to shoot threes as they still had yet to knock down a shot from beyond the arc.

The Jags found ways to score, using leak out opportunities to score late in the quarter. They outscored Oakland 6-2 in the final stretch of the third, as Davisdon knocked down a late jumper to pull the Jags within a single point (44-43) headed into the final quarter.

Alexa Hocevar capped off an IUPUI comeback effort, hitting a free throw to tie the game at 50 a piece with 6:14 left to play. With the game still in the balance, Madison Royal-Davis scored five consecutive points as a layup with 5:05 extended Oakland's lead back up to five (55-50).

Oakland would have to play the majority of the quarter with leading scorer Quarles-Daniels on the bench as she picked up her fourth foul earlier in the quarter. Royal-Davis made a huge impact off the bench, bringing activity to the boards when Quarles-Daniels and Ibezim were on the bench. 

With IUPUI down by four and the clock working against them, they held the ball for a crucial possession in the final two minutes. As Wolterman drove down the lane, Ibezim met her at the peak of her jumpshot and swatted it away, forcing an IUPUI loose ball foul and sending Skorupski to the line, where she hit a pair of free throws to put the Golden Grizzlies up 61-55 with 1:12 left in the game.

With the game in the balance, just up 61-59, Oakland turned to Quarles-Daniels. No stranger to clutch buckets, the sophomore guard drove to the lane and powered through a strong layup with 0:07 left, sealing the win for Oakland as they exit Indianapolis with a 65-59 victory.

Quarles-Daniels finished the game with 10 points (4-of-11 FG) and four rebounds. The team's leading scorer was Skorupski, who finished the game with 13 points (7-of-8 FT), two steals, and five rebounds. McCormick also scored in double-figures, scoring 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

"The one thing I can say about Maddy is that she has grown throughout the season. We want her to let things go when she makes a mistake, she's doing a tremendous job of that and it helps her on both ends of the floor," said Acting Head Coach Deanna Richard.

The Golden Grizzlies also had solid contributions from Ibezim, who scored six points and snagged 11 rebounds for her fourth double-digit rebound game of the year. Royal-Davis also had her best recent game with seven points and a career-high eight rebounds in quality minutes off the bench.

The Golden Grizzlies held IUPUI without a single make from three (0-of-15) while outrebounding the Jags by 14 (54 to 40),

"Our focus tonight was commitment. Commitment to everything we've done, to the scouting, to execution…We had some ups and downs and rollercoaster moments in the game, but we finished the game and pulled it out," said Richard.



Oakland continues their road trip on Wednesday, Jan. 31 as they head to Dayton, Oh. to take on Wright State.

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