Youngstown, Ohio. - Oakland traveled to Youngstown, Ohio to visit the Penguins to start the new year.

After going down 5-2 to begin the game, the Golden Grizzlies were able to surge into a 6-0 run as Brooke Quarles-Daniels scored back-to-back buckets with 6:25 left in the quarter to put Oakland up 8-5 early.

Oakland owned the paint on both ends in the early going. Even with starting forward Miriam Ibezim getting in some early foul trouble, the Golden Grizzlies snagged six offensive rebounds in the quarter, compared to YSU's two. Attacking the rim early and often, the Golden Grizzlies netted eight points in the paint and went 5-5 FT on their way to a 17-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Markyia McCormick began the game on a tear, leading all scorers with 7 points (3-3 FT) in the opening quarter, getting off to another hot start just like she did in the previous game against Northern Kentucky where she scored 20 points.

Oakland's  pressure on the rim spelled trouble for Youngstown State's star center Emily Saunders, who was sent to the bench early with two fouls and just four points in the quarter.

Oakland started the quarter on a 7-3 scoring advantage as Alexis Johnson converted a fastbreak layup with 7:04 left in the quarter, capitalizing on a somewhat frantic pace of the game.

With both teams playing somewhat smaller lineups due to early foul trouble in the front-court, Oakland saw good minutes from bench players Cam Grant and Madison Royal-Davis. Grant, who saw action for just the fourth time this season, did an excellent job disrupting YSU in the post in her limited minutes. Royal-Davis seemed to be everywhere on the court, chasing rebounds and loose balls, injecting energy into the Oakland lineup.

With the game neck-and-neck, Youngstown State rode the hot shooting of guard Dena Jarells who knocked down her third triple of the half to give the Penguins a 31-30 lead with 1:43 left in the half, giving YSU their first lead since 8:49 in the first quarter.

McCormick powered through contact to retake the lead for the Golden Grizzlies in the final minute, but a free throw by YSU with 25 seconds remaining would tie the game at 32, sending the game into halftime deadlocked.

The Golden Grizzlies stood behind their usual defensive blueprint in the first half, forcing 11 turnovers while scoring 12 points off of turnovers. On offense, despite hitting only one shot from beyond the arc (1-10 3FG), Oakland used a tough and physical presence in the paint to score, behind 11 offensive rebounds and 11 second-chance points.

Linda Van Schaik was phenomenal in the first half, nearly notching a double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds in just 17 minutes. 

On the other side, the Penguins used a second quarter offensive surge to claw their way back into the game. Jarrells led all scorers with 13 first-half points (3-6 3FG). As a team, YSU shot very efficient marks of .545 FG% (6-11 FG) and .571 3FG% (4-7 3FG) in the second frame.

Oakland sputtered to open up the second half, but remained within striking distance. Both teams traded buckets, and fouls, to start the half. Oakland continued to grab offensive rebounds, but there was some trouble converting as they started the quarter just 3-12 FG, while YSU leaked out and got behind Oakland's full-court press for layups. 

Shaking off a cold first quarter, YSU took advantage of Oakland's offensive struggles, running in transition and creating a flow in a game with a ton of stoppages up to that point. As the Penguins regained the lead, Hailey Thierry gave the Penguins the largest lead of the game as a fastbreak layup capped off a 11-2 YSU run putting them up 49-42 with 3:33 left in the third quarter.

YSU would outscore Oakland 8 to 2 in the final three minutes of the quarter, and 25 to 12 in the quarter as a whole, to take a 57-44 lead. YSU once again shot over .500 FG% in the quarter, this time going 10-16 FG (.625 FG%), getting hot right as Oakland went cold to take the momentum.

With another late-game comeback in mind, the Golden Grizzlies started the final quarter showing the same aggressiveness and basket-hunting they had in the first half. They shot 7-10 on free throws in the quarter, resembling what they did in the first 20 minutes. They also forced 11 YSU turnovers in the fourth, getting back to their usual identity of speeding teams up and forcing errors.

Oakland was able to shrink the YSU lead down to seven (54-61) as Alexis Johnson knocked down a triple to pull Oakland back within range with 3:13 left to play. Within reach of the lead, the Golden Grizzlies fought to the end. Jasmine Dupree-Hebert hit her only shot of the game, a deep bank-shot triple with 1:20 left to make it a two possession game with a score of 57-63.

Oakland would ultimately have to foul to preserve time, but YSU hit enough free throws (9-12 FT) to put the game out of reach, as the Golden Grizzlies fell 63-70 in Youngstown.

McCormick and Johnson both scored in double-digits for the second consecutive game as McCormick ended with 11 points (4-14 FG) and Johnson ended with 14 points (6-13 FG). 

Quarles-Daniels led all Oakland scorer's with 15 points (5-10 FG) while also pulling down 11 rebounds, notching her first double-double of the season. Van Schaik fell just two points short of her own double-double, scoring eight points to pair with a career-high 13 rebounds, doing more than her share down low as Ibezim saw limited minutes due to fouls.

Royal-Davis pitched in with eight points (2-3 FG), a season-high tying four steals, and four rebounds off the bench for Oakland.

The Golden Grizzlies, who rank top four in scoring among all Horizon League teams, simply had a cold shooting night, going 22-71 FG (.310 FG%). The synergy of their offense and defense wasn't there in the second half, and yet they still managed to claw their way back into the game.

"I was proud of our team's effort tonight. They stayed together down the stretch however but being down 13 at the end of the 3rd was tough to get it back", said Acting Head Coach Deanna Richard after the loss. "Overall we had a tough shooting night and to Youngstown's credit they shot the ball really well".

Despite the cold shooting, Oakland grabbed 40 rebounds for the second straight game, snagging 41 tonight. Of their 41 rebounds, nearly half of them came on the offensive glass as they totaled 23 offensive boards, a season-high for the team.

Oakland falls to 1-3 in Horizon League Play. Next up for the Golden Grizzlies is game number two of their three-game road trip, where they will head to Moon Twp., PA to take on Robert Morris on January 7.

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