ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Golden Grizzlies played hard, but fell 49-61 to the Milwaukee Panthers in the OU Credit Union O'rena.

Milwaukee got off to a fast start in this one as the Panthers got out to a 10-4 lead to start.

Following the Panthers fast start the Golden Grizzlies struck back quickly. Macy Smith would hit back to back three pointers to even the score at 10 at the first media timeout.

Threes would continue to fly to end the first quarter, as Kallie and Kamy Peppler would each hit a three pointer to extend the Panthers lead, but Maddy Skorupski would hit a basket of her own to cut the first quarter deficit to 18-14.

Milwaukee would ride their momentum into the second quarter as the Panthers got out to a 29-19 lead. 

Three point shooting would remain the key for Milwaukee as Jada Donaldson would add a three of her own to give Milwaukee a 38-23 lead at halftime.

The Panthers were very difficult to stop in the first half as Milwaukee shot 15-of-27 (.556), and also shot 5-of-13 from deep (.385).

The Golden Grizzlies struggled shooting in the first half, shooting 9-of-25 (.360), while shooting 2-7 from three (28.6%).

Oakland's scoring was led by Macy Smith who contributed nine points, while Maddy Skorupski added seven of her own. 

Madison Royal-Davis added a quick four points with strong defense to spark an early run for Oakland to begin the third quarter. 

Izzy Pugh for Milwaukee would answer quickly as she would make baskets of her own to bring the score back to 42-27 as the third quarter inched closer to an end.

Jasmine Dupree-Hebert and Kallie Peppler would each trade three points to end the quarter as Milwaukee would take a 45-32 lead to end the third quarter.

Oakland would not go away quietly as Smith and Jasmine Dupree Hebert would each add a basket, but Milwaukee would continue to answer as Milwaukee continued to lead 51-38.

Momentum finally began to swing in Oakland's favor with 4:54 to go, as Macy Smith would add a triple, and Mady Skorupski would add two to bring the Golden Grizzlies within eight. 

Each team would continue to play even basketball as Maddy Skorupski would continue to be aggressive by adding points at the free throw line.

 Eventually Oakland's momentum cooled as Milwaukee would continue to hit all the right buttons and found a way to score a win.

Milwaukee wouldn't shoot quite as well as they did in the first half, but they still shot .440 from the field, and .300 from beyond the arc.

Oakland on the other hand only shot .316 (18-of-57 FG) from the field, while outrebounding the Panthers 11 to nine on the offensive glass.

Macy Smith and Maddy Skorupski would play valiantly in the loss as they provided 18 and 11 points respectively.

Skorupski also led the Golden Grizzlies in rebounds with seven, and assists with three.

The Golden Grizzlies will be back in action Wednesday Feb. 19th at 7 p.m. as Oakland travels to take on Wright State, the game can also be seen on ESPN +.