DAYTON, Oh. - The Golden Grizzlies headed into the Nutter Center to take on Wright State, looking to earn back-to-back wins.

Right from the jump Oakland put their foot on the gas. Markyia McCormick started the game with a quick five points in the first minute. Alexis Johnson got in the scoring column early as well, and an emphatic Miriam Ibezim block led to a speedy transition layup from Brooke Quarles-Daniels as the Golden Grizzlies took a 9-0 lead with 6:56 left in the opening quarter.

The entire Oakland team had the green light, going 6-of-9 (.667) from the floor and 3-of-4 (.750) from beyond the arc. The Golden Grizzlies continued their early offensive onslaught as McCormick and Linda Van Schaik put Oakland up by a hefty 13 points (17-4) with 5:10 remaining.

The Golden Grizzlies played at a slower pace offensively, moving the ball and flourishing in the half court sets. Many points were thanks to the rebounding of Ibezim, who finished the quarter with a game-high four rebounds as Oakland outrebounded the Raiders 12 to six while snagging four offensive boards and scoring six second chance points.

After a very impressive game against IUPUI last time out, Madison Royal-Davis entered the game and continued to make impact plays, swatting another Wright State layup with 1:33. Kennedie Montue also made plays off the bench, knocking in a triple with four seconds left to give the Golden Grizzlies a 28-14 lead heading into the second quarter.

After Oakland's fiery start, Wright State came out in the second quarter with a fire lit under them. The Raiders opened the quarter with an 11-0 run, going 5-of-5 during the run, cutting the Oakland lead to just three as a Jada Tate layup brought the score to 25-28 in favor of the Golden Grizzlies. 

Johnson gave Oakland a bit of breathing room, halting the run with a floater off the glass with 5:53 to put the Golden Grizzlies back up 30-26. Wright State benefited from aggressive defense, jumping passing lanes and playing fast on the defensive end. While Oakland slumped to start the quarter, their defense remained solid, rotating and playing very solid one-on-one defense.
With the game neck-and-neck as the second frame moved on, Alexis Hutchinson knocked in a pair of free throws to give Wright State a 34-33 lead with 2:21 left in the first half, taking their first lead of the game.

Montue hit another crucial three for Oakland, retaking the lead (38-37) with 0:53 left to play in the opening half. As the teams were seconds away from quarter close, Hutchinson jumped the passing lane and scored her game-high 13th points on a fastbreak layup with 0:02 remaining, giving the Raiders a 38-39 lead after the first 20 minutes of play.

Oakland was outscored 25 to 10 in the second quarter as the script completely flipped after the first quarter. Oakland still shot .455 (15-of-33) for the half, with McCormick, Quarles-Daniels, and Montue all scoring eight points while shooting over .420 each.

Wright State continued to carry the momentum they gained in the second quarter. After Van Schaik hit a three for Oakland's first field goal pf the half, the Raiders rattled off a 9-0 run as KAcee Baumhower scored her 16th points of the game on a fastbreak layup to give Wright State a 53-41 lead and their biggest lead of the game with 6:47 left in the third quarter.

Ibezim once again stopped the run with a tough layup in the post with 6:26, cutting the Wright State lead back down to 10 (43-53). Oakland's offensive struggles not only stopped them from scoring, but were creating long rebounds that Wright State was using to score with numbers in transition.

Royal-Davis continued to be a bright spot in Oakland's play, securing a steal and taking it coast-to-coast for a layup as Oakland tried to swing the momentum back their way and cut the Wright State lead back down to single digits (47-55) with 4:38 left in the third quarter.

The Golden Grizzlies held onto that momentum and fought back into the game with a 9-2 run, capped off by a Maddy Skorupski baseline jumper to bring Oakland within one possession at 56-59 with 1:69 left.

Hutchinson would stop the run and give Wright State a 61-56 lead as the final quarter approached. The Golden Grizzlies brought their shooting percentage back over .400 for the quarter, shooting .467 (7-of-15) in the third quarter.

The Golden Grizzlies' defense shifted throughout the game. Early it was a more rotational, one-on-one centered defense, but as they stayed within arms reach with the game in the balance it turned to their usual scrambling, havoc-causing defense that noticeably forced Wright State to unwantedly speed up.

Van Schaik hit her third triple of the game to pull Oakland within seven with 1:29 left in the game, keeping the Golden Grizzlies' comeback hopes alive, but it served to be too little too late as Oakland fell 68-80 in Dayton.

Van Schaik finished the game with 13 points (5-of-13) and six boards for Oakland. Quarles-Daniels (6-of-16) would also end with 13 points, along with seven assists and four rebounds. Montue also tied for the team lead in points (13) on 4-of-8 shooting. Ibezim dominated on the boards, grabbing 10 rebounds, marking the fifth time in the last six games she has pulled down at least 10 rebounds.

The Golden Grizzlies played excellent first and third quarters, shooting 18-of-34 (.529) combined, but cold second and fourth quarters where they shot 8-of-31 (.258) stopped their comeback just short.

Oakland moved the ball very well over the course of the game, dishing out 16 total assists, five more than Wright State and marking it  their third highest assist game of the season. The Golden Grizzlies also had amazing bursts from their bench, outsourcing the Raiders bench 24 to 16.

"We had a great first quarter, but we needed to sustain that effort and teamwork for a full 40 minutes," said Acting Head Coach Deanna Richard. "We have to continue to share the ball and play team defense throughout the game, and stay consistent and true to who we are. 

The Golden Grizzlies play their final game of their current road stretch on 
Friday, Feb. 2 at Northern Kentucky.

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