On Thursday, January 22, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies women’s basketball team fell to the Green Bay Phoenix despite a late fourth-quarter push on the road, 73-59.
The loss moves Oakland’s record to 6-13 on the season with a conference record of 3-6, good enough for eighth place in the Horizon League standings.
Oakland was led in scoring by Lianna Baxter, who finished the game with 16 points to go along with three rebounds. Makenzie Luehring also had a great performance for the Golden Grizzlies, putting up 15 points, a team-high five rebounds and four assists.
Former Golden Grizzly Maddy Skorupski led Green Bay in scoring, putting up 19 points, four rebounds and six steals. Jenna Guyer and Carley Duffney joined Skorupski in the double-digit scoring club, with Guyer contributing 12 points and Duffney finishing with 10 points.
The Golden Grizzlies got on the scoreboard on their first possession to start this matchup after Luehring drew in the Green Bay defense, leading to a near-open look for Angie Smith down low after she cut to the basket.
Despite an impressive offensive possession for the Golden Grizzlies, the Green Bay offense proved to be a well-oiled machine, with Guyer and Skorupski getting good looks at the basket.
As the first quarter continued, Green Bay’s consistency on offense, something Oakland couldn’t capture, allowed them to jump ahead to an early double-digit lead. By the end of the quarter, the Phoenix held a commanding 21-9 lead.
With the second quarter underway, Green Bay continued to build its lead as a layup from Duffney marked the start of a 14-0 Phoenix run. Four minutes later, Layla Gold would prove to be the Golden Grizzly to end the run, converting a tightly contested layup down low.
Although the Phoenix led by as many as 24 points in the second, the Golden Grizzlies picked up some slack down the stretch, highlighted by three-pointers from Leuhring and Gold. Still, Green Bay remained ahead heading into halftime 41-25.
At the break, Green Bay held the shooting advantage, as the Phoenix converted 50% (16-for-32) of their looks from the field and 44.4% (4-for-9) of their attempts from deep. In comparison, the Golden Grizzlies made 31% (9-for-29) of their attempts from the floor and 27.3% (3-for-11) of their shots from beyond the arc.
Through the third quarter, Oakland continued to make up ground as Baxter and Luehring both connected from deep early into the quarter. Smith got into the scoring mix as well, knocking down a pair of free throws at the charity stripe and hitting a tough stepback midrange jumper.
Despite Oakland’s show of resilience, the Phoenix offense found its footing as the third quarter continued, mainly thanks to Meghan Schultz and Skorupski. At the end of the quarter, Oakland still trailed Green Bay, 59-45.
In the fourth and final quarter, the Phoenix really upped the ante, further showing why they sit atop the Horizon League standings as Green Bay went on a 9-0 run, holding the Golden Grizzlies scoreless through the first five minutes of the quarter.
Following Green Bay’s run, Oakland flipped the script, scoring 14 unanswered points in the span of three minutes, nearly erasing the Phoenix’s double-digit lead. Still, Green Bay held on, as Guyer put an end to the Oakland run with an and-one to secure a 73-59 win for the Phoenix.
Up next, the Golden Grizzlies will look to get back in the win column as they take on the Milwaukee Panthers on the road on Saturday, January 24. The game against the Panthers marks the end of a three-game road trip for Oakland.
Takeaways
This wasn’t a game that many expected the Golden Grizzlies to come away victorious from, and unsurprisingly, they didn’t.
Green Bay continues to put together a perfect Horizon League season, so far defeating every Horizon League team at least once. After they took down Oakland at the OU Credit Union O’Rena previously this month, 78-63, it would have been surprising to see the Phoenix fall to the Golden Grizzlies on their own home floor.
Still, there were some good moments from the Golden Grizzlies, particularly how they handled the end of the second quarter, the start of the third quarter and the end of the fourth. Oakland showed, yet again, that despite the deficit they face, they won’t back down.
On the other hand, what stood out most in this matchup was the lack of scoring from Oakland’s bench.
Nine different Green Bay players finished with points in this game, while just five Oakland players, who all started in this matchup, contributed to the score. The Golden Grizzlies were outscored 23-0 in bench points, a margin that shows just how little scoring support Oakland’s starters received.
Looking at this loss from a league placement standpoint, it isn’t a loss that sets the Golden Grizzlies that far back, either. If anything, it’s almost a relief that the Phoenix aren’t on Oakland’s schedule the rest of the regular season.
Shifting focus to Oakland’s next game against Milwaukee, this will prove to be an important matchup for the Golden Grizzlies.
A win over the Panthers would keep the Golden Grizzlies comfortably ahead of the current bottom three teams in the conference standings. However, a loss would bring Oakland right back into that crowded bottom tier.
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