ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Golden Grizzlies will play their first consecutive home games of the season, taking on Green Bay and Milwaukee in a week-ending duo of conference showdowns.
Oakland fell to Youngstown State, 81-58, in its last time out. The Golden Grizzlies cut the Youngstown State lead to as close as nine points in the final quarter but couldn't complete the comeback effort.

Mackenzie Luehring set a career-high scoring mark for the second time in three games, tallying 20 points (8-for-18 FG) along with a career-high five steals. Layla Gold also had one of her best performances of the season, going for 17 points (5-for-6 FT), 10 rebounds and three blocks, marking her second double-double of the season. Gold is one of the premier defenders in the league, ranking second in blocks per game (1.3), and has six multi-block performances this season.

Angie Smith has also strung together several reliable performances as of late, scoring 12 points against the Penguins and posting her sixth straight game scoring in double figures.

THURSDAY, JAN. 8 vs. GREEN BAY | 6:30 PM | ESPN+

The Golden Grizzlies and Phoenix will meet for the first time this season, and for the first time since Green Bay's Horizon League Championship quarterfinal win over Oakland last season.
Green Bay (6-0 HL, 11-5) currently sits atop the conference with an unblemished league record. Riding a three-game winning streak, the Phoenix most recently came out on top against Robert Morris in a comfortable 64-43 win.

Green Bay excels at 3-and-D basketball, ranking second in three-point percentage (.342), second in scoring defense (57.3 oppg), and taking care of the ball with the league's best assist-to-turnover ratio (1.22) and highest assists per game (16.88).

Jenna Guyer (13.7 ppg) leads the Phoenix in scoring and is one of six players on Green Bay averaging seven or more points per game. Guards Kamy Peppler (4.6 apg) and Maddy Skorupski (3.8 apg) rank first and second in the conference in assists, respectively.

While the reigning league champions are 7-0 at home, they have had bumps on the road, holding a 4-3 road record.

Oakland is looking for its first win against the Phoenix since February 2023, when the Golden Grizzlies upset Green Bay in an 83-81 thriller at home.

SATURDAY, JAN. 10 vs. MILWAUKEE | 2 PM | ESPN+

The Panthers (1-4 HL, 5-11) close out their week at the OU Credit Union O'rena, finishing a Michigan trip after playing Detroit Mercy on Thursday, Jan. 8.

Prior to this week, Milwaukee earned a 66-58 home win over Cleveland State on Jan. 4. With just a half-game separating the two teams in the conference standings, the Panthers and Golden Grizzlies are evenly matched in several statistical categories. The squads rank neck-and-neck in scoring offense (Oakland 60.9 ppg, Milwaukee 60.0 ppg), three-point percentage (Oakland .281, Milwaukee .293), and steals per game (Oakland 6.20, Milwaukee 6.13).

Despite owning the sixth-best scoring defense in the league, the Panthers force the fewest turnovers among Horizon League teams. With Oakland committing fewer than 10 turnovers in two of its last three games, Saturday's matchup could set up for a much-needed bounce-back performance for the Golden Grizzlies.

Milwaukee's star player is forward Jorey Buwalda, who averages 13.3 points per game and a league-high 9.3 rebounds per game.

While the Golden Grizzlies and Panthers have split their last 10 meetings evenly, Oakland has won two of the last three contests against Milwaukee.

Oakland will look to take advantage of home-court energy at the OU Credit Union O'rena as it continues conference play, aiming to turn strong individual performances into team success and build momentum against two familiar Horizon League opponents.