Oakland University Women's Basketball Earns First-Ever Horizon League Semifinal Appearance but falls short to IUPUI
Thursday, March 3, 2022: OU Women's Basketball Upsets #2 Youngstown State
On Thursday, March 3rd, the OU Women's Basketball team upset #2 seed Youngstown State, 63-53, in the Horizon League Quarterfinals at YSU. The Lady Grizzlies advanced to the Horizon League Semifinals in Indianapolis for the first time in program history.
Oakland's scoring was led by Kahlaijah Dean with 18 points, Breanne Beatty with 14 points, and Brianna Breedy with 10 points. Oakland played tough defense when it counted, allowing only 10 fourth quarter points to the Penguins.
Monday, March 7, 2022: Golden Grizzlies fall to #1 seed IUPUI 86-63
Kahlaijah Dean paced Oakland with 24 points as the Golden Grizzlies fell to IUPUI, 86-63 in the semifinals of the Keeps Horizon League Women's Basketball Championships Monday afternoon from the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
Dean went 7-17 shooting, with nine of her 24 points coming from the free throw line. The senior pulled down five boards and dished out five assists.
Oakland tallied 35 bench points, 24 coming from Dean, with the other 11 from Breanna Perry. Perry shot an impressive 5-9 (56 percent) from the floor.
Both teams were solid offensively in the first half, as the Golden Grizzlies went 9-16 (56 percent) from the floor. IUPUI went an impressive 59 percent, on 10-17 shooting. Oakland ended the back-and-forth battle with a slight 23-21 advantage to end the first 10 minutes of play.
To begin the second quarter, IUPUI went on a 6-0 run, forcing an Oakland timeout. Dean was fouled on 3-point attempt, making all three free throws to pull Oakland within three, 29-26 with seven minutes left to play in the half.
An Oakland scoring drought of nearly three minutes was ended on an up and under layup by Dean to cut the deficit to seven, 35-28. After two missed IUPUI free throws, Breanne Beatty hit a 3-pointer at 2:19 to cut it to four, 37-33. The Golden Grizzlies would score just one more bucket of the half, entering halftime trailing the Jags, 45-35.
Beatty rounded out Oakland's double-digit performers with 10 points and nine boards.
The Golden Grizzlies weren't able to chip away at the deficit coming out of halftime as Oakland suffered from a 2:43 scoring drought. Brianna Breedy was able to put Oakland back on the board after an offensive board by and put back to trail within 14, and that was the closest Oakland would get to the Jags.
IUPUI maintained a double-digit lead the remainder of the afternoon, leading by as much as 25 in the fourth quarter.
The Jags recorded an impressive 59 percent shooting performance on the day, including 44 percent (7-16) from long-range. IUPUI scored 52 of its 86 points in the paint. Four-time Horizon League Player of the Year Macee Williams led the Jags with 27 points and 15 boards.
Monday's game marked the first-ever appearance in a Horizon League semifinal game.
2022 #HLWBB ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Macee Williams, IUPUI (Championship MVP)
Rachel McLimore, IUPUI
Destiny Leo, Cleveland State
Gabriella Smith, Cleveland State
Breanne Beatty, Oakland
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Mar 9, 2022, Oakland University Athletic Dept and Rochester.Life Staff