Oakland women’s basketball proves to again be thorn in Green Bay’s side

Oakland women’s basketball (15-14, 7-11) broke conference-leader Green Bay’s (26-4, 16-2) nine-game win streak with a 77-69 victory on Saturday afternoon in the O’rena.

Seniors Olivia Nash and Elena Popkey were honored before their final home game for Senior Night. It was Oakland’s third-straight win on Senior Night.

“We feel great,” Popkey said. “The one thing we talked about in the locker room yesterday was we want to go out as a family, as a unit playing together. And this was probably the game where everything started to click for us as a team,” she said.

The duo became the first pair of Golden Grizzlies to surpass 1,000 career points each in over a decade. Jayme Wilson and Anne Hafeli were the most recent, in 2004-05.

“I’m really happy for Olivia, really happy for Elena,” head coach Jeff Tungate said. “Tonight it wasn’t about who we played, it wasn’t about the last game of the year. It was about our two seniors.”

“It’s just a memorable time, being able to sweep the best team in the league,” Nash said.

Freshman Taylor Jones led the Golden Grizzlies with 22 points, followed by Nola Anderson with 15 off the bench.

Taylor Gleason added 14 points, while Nash and Popkey each collected nine.

Popkey recorded a game-high six assists. She is just four shy of becoming Oakland’s all-time assist leader.

Nash needed one extra point to record a double-double. She grabbed a game-high ten rebounds.

“When I first got the job here the first thing I did was get as much Green Bay film as I could to watch because the way they play, they’re so unselfish and they play hard,” Tungate said.

Oakland plays Youngstown State in the 2016 Horizon League Championship at 8:30 ET on Thursday, March 10 in Green Bay, Wis.

“You never know what’s going to happen in March,” Tungate said. “That’s what makes March Madness March Madness, and we’re excited to be a part of it.”