In a crucial road game against the IU Indianapolis Jaguars, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies women’s basketball team came up short, 64-57, after a fourth-quarter dry stretch on Wednesday, February 11.
The loss marks Oakland’s fourth in a row and their tenth in conference play. Looking at the Horizon League standings, this loss keeps Oakland in eighth place but puts the Jaguars, who are in seventh place, two games ahead of the Golden Grizzlies.
Makenzie Luehring led the Golden Grizzlies in scoring, finishing the game with 15 points to go along with a pair of steals. Filippa Goula also had a solid showing, stuffing the stat sheet with 14 points, six rebounds and six assists.
For the Jaguars, Neveah Foster led the scoring charge, putting up an efficient 17 points while snagging seven rebounds. Destini Craig was another Jaguar who came up big, scoring 15 points while dishing out a team-high three assists.
IU Indianapolis set the tone early in this matchup, playing some tough defense while forcing the ball inside the Oakland paint for some efficient buckets. The Golden Grizzlies weren’t deterred, however, opting for some balanced scoring to erase the early Jaguar lead.
With multiple lead changes toward the end of the first quarter, Luehring started to take over on offense, scoring nine points in the final three minutes of the quarter, highlighted by a buzzer-beater midrange shot that kept the Golden Grizzlies in the lead, 24-20.
Oakland continued to roll through the second quarter, holding the Jaguars to just five points through five minutes while Goula started to heat up on offense, knocking down consecutive three-pointers to give the Golden Grizzlies a healthy double-digit lead.
Despite the hot start from Oakland to start the second, IU Indianapolis found its rhythm on offense down the stretch. The Jaguars went on a 7-0 run at the end of the quarter, bringing them within striking distance of the Golden Grizzlies, who led by just a possession heading into the break.
At the half, Oakland shot at a 56.7% (17-for-30) rate from the field compared to the Jaguars, who made 42.9% (12-for-28) of their looks. From beyond the arc, the Golden Grizzlies converted 50% (2-for-4) of their attempts, while IU Indianapolis made 30% (3-for-10) of their shots from deep.
The start of the third quarter was a back-and-forth battle between both teams. Although the Golden Grizzlies remained ahead for most of the quarter, the Jaguars took the lead midway through the third after Hailey Smith converted both of her attempts from the charity stripe.
Throughout the rest of the third, basket trading continued as neither team could pull ahead. With 30 seconds remaining, Lianna Baxter made a pair of free throws to tie up the game at 50-50 heading into the final quarter.
In the opening moments of the fourth quarter, Olivia Smith and Arianna Williams scored some tough buckets to give IU Indianapolis the lead. Luehring responded a few possessions later, sinking a turnaround jumper to make it a one-possession game.
Following Luehring’s bucket, the Jaguars completely shut down the Oakland offense, which went scoreless for the final six minutes of the game. With IU Indianapolis in complete control, the team slowed things down and finished on top, 64-57.
Up next, the Golden Grizzlies will look to end their four-game slump against the Wright State Raiders at the OU Credit Union O’Rena on Saturday, February 14. With a tip-off slated for 2 p.m., this marks the final game Oakland has against an opponent lower than them in the standings.
Takeaways
Standings-wise, this was a much-needed opportunity for the Golden Grizzlies, who failed to capitalize in this matchup after a strong second quarter.
Similar to every loss that Oakland has incurred during this losing streak, this game felt within reach before things slipped away at the very end. Oakland led by as many as 14 points in this game and even had more time with the lead compared to IU Indianapolis. Notably, in Oakland’s last three losses, they’ve lost by a combined 10 points.
The main thing that sticks out in this matchup, aside from the Jaguars’ impressive fourth-quarter defensive display, was how IU Indianapolis went about things on offense.
IU Indianapolis took 34 free throws this game, a monstrous advantage over Oakland’s 12 free throw attempts. Nearly a third of the Jaguars’ 64 points came from the charity stripe.
Not only was the Jaguars’ plan to attack the paint and draw fouls significant for their offense, but it also put multiple Oakland players in foul trouble, limiting the Golden Grizzlies’ ability to run their preferred rotations and maintain consistency.
An Oakland player running into foul trouble is nothing new this season, considering how short the rotations have been. But having nearly the entire rotation in foul trouble was a new challenge for this Golden Grizzly squad.
Of the eight players who saw playing time, six of them recorded three personal fouls, with three players, Layla Gold, Sereneti Roberts-Adams and Jasmine Dupree-Hebert all finishing the game with four fouls, just one away from fouling out.
All-in-all, the Jaguars’ approach in this game was something to note as the regular season draws closer to its end. It will be interesting to see if other teams attempt to replicate what IU Indianapolis did as a way to disrupt Oakland’s rhythm.
Enjoyed this article? Help keep HoriZone Roundtable going.
👉 Donate here: https://horizoneroundtable.com/donate
👉 Join us on Patreon:https://patreon.com/horizoneroundtable
Subscribe to our emails, and get our latest posts in your inbox, plus a weekly digest of everything we've published!
