CLEVELAND, Oh. - The Golden Grizzlies gave the first-place Vikings another run for their money as Oakland headed into the Wolstein Center with an upset on their minds.

Oakland started out the game with a bit of rhythm behind five lightning quick points from Linda Van Schaik, knocking down a triple to give Oakland an early 7-5 lead with 6:53 left in the quarter.

The Vikings wouldn't trail for long, sparking a 7-0 run towards the end of the quarter as Mickayla Perdue hit her first triple of the game to give CSU a 15-9 lead with 1:02 remaining in the opening quarter.

Kennedie Montue added her name to the scoreboard, ending the run and scoring her first points with a shot from deep, but CSU's offensive burst to close the quarter saw them outscore Oakland 10-3 in the final three minutes to take an 18-12 lead heading into the second quarter.

The Golden Grizzlies weren't going away quietly, and opened up the second frame on a 9-0 tear, knocking down 2-of-3 triples during the run as a Markyia McCormick jumpshot tied the game at 24 with 6:09 left in the first half.

Backpedaling after a strong Oakland start to the period, the Vikings activated their offense once again, stringing together a 7-0 streak to retake a 31-24 lead with 3:59 remaining.

Miriam Ibezim pulled down her third rebound and the team's sixth offensive rebound for a putback layup to halt the run. Despite trailing, Oakland was taking advantage of CSU's inability to rebound out of their 2-3 zone defense. The Golden Grizzlies had numerous second chance bucket opportunities, but outside of their runs had trouble converting on them.

With time winding down in the quarter, CSU's star guard Colbi Maples flipped a floater up and in at the buzzer, closing out the half as Oakland trailed 29-38 going into the break.

A game of runs, both teams went through hot and cold stretches throughout the first 20 minutes as the game trended heavily towards the team with the most momentum at the moment.

While CSU had the higher overall field goal percentage, shooting .467 (14-of-30) compared to Oakland's .364 (12-of-33), The Golden Grizzlies gained the edge in three point shooting, knocking down five triples (5-of-13) to the Vikings' four (4-of-7) in the opening half. Oakland also led in assists, dishing out seven dimes to CSU's six.

With the game neck-and-neck in many categories, the Golden Grizzlies would need to create separation using their defense in the second half.

Ibezim led all Oakland scorers with six points (3-of-4) after the first two quarters, while McCormick, Maddy Skorupski, Alexis Johnson, and Van Schaik all added five points each to the scoring pot for Oakland.

Perdue picked up right where she left off in the last meeting of these two teams, using a pair of triples to lead all scorers with 14 points in the first half.

Van Schaik and Quarles-Daniels scored back-to-back buckets to open up the third quarter, giving Oakland a little confidence offensively to start. 

The senior guard from Netherlands continued to initiate the offense for Oakland, creating penetration in the CSU zone, resulting in kick out opportunities or buckets in the paint. After McCormick scored points number seven on a soft floater, Van Schaik followed with her own 5-0 run, knocking in another triple and reaching 13 points as she cut Oakland's deficit to just four points, trailing 41-45 with 4:03 left in the third quarter.

The Golden Grizzlies were also more locked in on the defensive end, creating tough looks for the Vikings, but more importantly stepping into the driving lanes of Cleveland State and drawing four charges in the quarter. Not only did Oakland draw these fouls and create turnovers, but it caused the Vikings to second guess and hesitate on drives.

Oakland continued to pressure the Vikings on both ends, stringing together a 9-0 run as Quarles-Daniels had her best quarter of the day, scoring six points in the quarter, including a free-throw line jumper as Oakland trailed 43-45 with 2:34 remaining.

The Vikings recouped offensively, getting to the free throw line to take a 53-50 lead at the end of the quarter, a lead that shrank dramatically from the start of halftime, as Oakland still had momentum on their side.

Van Schaik continued what was one of her best games of the season, knocking down a triple at the buzzer to end the third quarter. With 16 points on 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, she scored 11 points in the quarter, keeping the Golden Grizzlies within range.

The Vikings came out in the final quarter desperate to pull away, igniting a 6-0 run to go up 50-59 with just two minutes gone by in the frame.

The Golden Grizzly offense came out a bit stagnant, with the gaps in Cleveland State's zone shrinking with the zone becoming more aggressive.

Perdue knocked down yet another three, her third of the game, reaching 23 points and giving the Vikings their largest lead of the game at 69-56 with 3:21 left to play.

The lead grew too wide for Oakland to overcome as the Golden Grizzlies fell 63-78 on the road.

The final score didn't indicate how close the game was. The Golden Grizzlies were only outscored by three points in the second quarter, and even outscored CSU 21-15 in the third quarter. Oakland outrebounded the Vikings 36 to 35 and outscored their bench 13 to zero. Where Oakland fell behind was in efficiency, shooting .359 (23-of-64) from the floor to CSU's .509 (27-of-53). 

When asked about Oakland's big third quarter, Acting Head Coach Deanna Richard said, "Coming out the half we made some adjustments offensively to get better looks within their zone and challenged our athletes to get stop on the defensive end."

Van Schaik knocked down four shots from deep en route to a team high 18 points (6-of-14), her most since the season opener at Akron, along with four rebounds. Quarles-Daniels reached 10 points (5-of-8), six rebounds, and four assists on the day.

"Linda shot tremendously from the 3 shooting over 57%, when she's hitting our team knows where to go find the hot hand," Richard said about the senior guard's big game.

With four games left in the regular season, two at home, Oakland has just a few more chances to improve their spot in the Horizon League Standings and clinch a first round home game in the Horizon League Tournament.

"The biggest emphasis is to hold true to who we are and to focus on the details of the game," said Richard. "The small things come together together to make a big difference." 

Next up for the Golden Grizzlies is a trip to Green Bay on Thursday, Feb. 22 for a chance to sweep the Horizon League juggernaut.

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