The Oakland Golden Grizzlies women’s basketball team came away with a decisive 82-71 win over the Milwaukee Panthers on Saturday, concluding a three-game road trip.
The win comes as Oakland’s seventh on the season (7-13) and fourth in the conference (4-6). While this win doesn’t move the Golden Grizzlies, who are currently in eighth place, up the Horizon League standings, it puts Oakland neck-and-neck with the IU Indianapolis Jaguars in the standings and two games behind the fifth-place Northern Kentucky Norse.
Makenzie Luehring stuffed the stat sheet for the Golden Grizzlies, scoring a team-high 24 points while coming away with six rebounds and dishing out five assists. Additionally, Filippa Goula played the perfect complement to Luehring, adding an efficient 21 points of her own.
For the Panthers, Grace Lomen had an excellent showing, finishing the game with 27 points while nailing seven of her eight attempts from three. Jorey Buwalda also had a solid game for Milwaukee, scoring 15 points while dealing out a team-leading four assists.
Lomen got the Panthers on the board first in this matchup, before Luehring responded with a three-pointer of her own on Oakland’s next possession. Goula followed up with another Golden Grizzly three moments later, giving Oakland an early advantage.
Despite what was a solid start for Oakland, the Panthers took advantage of some faulty Golden Grizzly turnovers as the first quarter started to fade away. Sereniti Roberts-Adams was able to stop the bleeding with a layup in the quarter’s final minute, leaving the Golden Grizzlies behind 16-13.
As the second quarter got rolling, the Panthers retained their small lead over the Golden Grizzlies. However, Luehring started to heat up, scoring on three consecutive Oakland possessions to give the Golden Grizzlies their lead back midway through the second.
With Oakland back in the driver’s seat, the Golden Grizzlies really dialed up the defensive intensity, making the right reads while forcing multiple Panther turnovers. Milwaukee mustered just four points in the quarter’s final five minutes while the Oakland offense continued to soar.
In the second quarter’s final moments, Goula knocked down a long three to give the Golden Grizzlies their first double-digit lead of the night. The cherry on top came a minute later, as Luehring sank her third three-pointer of the match, putting Oakland ahead 41-28 heading into the break.
At the half, the Golden Grizzlies held a slight shooting advantage, converting 55.2% (16-for-29) of their looks from the field compared to the Panthers, who made 52.6% (10-for-19) of their attempts from the field. From deep, Oakland made 46.7% (7-for-15) of their three-pointers while Milwaukee shot at a 44.4% (4-for-9) clip.
With the third quarter underway, the Oakland offense continued to roll with Layla Gold and Goula providing a scoring burst in the quarter’s opening minute. Lomen kept the Panthers’ offense afloat throughout the third, but the Golden Grizzlies’ defensive pressure made it challenging for Milwaukee to close the gap.
The deficit went from bad to worse for the Panthers as the third quarter came to a close. In the quarter’s final minute, Lianna Baxter hit a wide-open three, marking the start of an 8-0 run, putting Oakland up 63-42 heading into the final quarter.
Despite the large Oakland lead, the Panthers battled admirably in the fourth quarter, at one point coming within nine points of the Golden Grizzlies. Still, Milwaukee’s push came too little too late, resulting in an 82-71 Golden Grizzly victory.
Up next, the Golden Grizzlies will enjoy a two-game homestand starting with the aforementioned IU Indianapolis Jaguars on Wednesday, January 28. Notably, a win over the Jaguars would move Oakland up to seventh place in the conference standings.
Takeaways
If there’s one thing you’ve learned about Keisha Newell and this iteration of the Golden Grizzlies, you know about the emphasis surrounding the team’s defense, and Oakland’s strong defensive effort tonight was a key factor in this win.
After the Golden Grizzlies nearly completely shut down the Panther offense in the second quarter, it was smooth sailing from that point on. Once Oakland took the lead midway through the second quarter, they never relinquished it.
Another key factor in this win was undoubtedly Luehring, who, at this stage in the season, appears to be a lock to make the Horizon League All-Freshman team.
Luehring’s confidence to take more three-pointers as the season has progressed has turned her into one of the premier offensive threats in the conference. In Luehring’s last four games, where Oakland has gone 3-1, she has taken at least five threes in all matchups, converting 54.2% (13-for-24) of her looks from deep in that span.
Although it’s unlikely for Luehring to finish the season shooting that productively from deep, her increase in efficiency and volume has greatly improved Oakland’s spacing, creating cleaner touches in the paint and opening up passing lanes. Few freshmen across the conference have the ability to command the offense like Luehring can.
Also, it was great to see the Oakland bench getting more involved on offense in this matchup. Particularly Jasmine Dupree-Hebert, who finished the game with seven points, with six of those coming from beyond the arc.
In total, the Oakland bench scored 11 points in this game. Without those 11 points, the same margin of victory in this matchup for the Golden Grizzlies, this game could have had a different outcome.
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