The dry spell is over for Oakland women’s basketball. The Golden Grizzlies broke their three-game losing streak with a massive 80-54 win against Youngstown State University on Sunday, Jan. 22 at the O’rena.

The victory over the Penguins puts Oakland 10-9 overall and 4-4 in the Horizon League.

Over the game’s duration, the Golden Grizzlies commanded the ball, leading for 37:36 of the match. Oakland also received a total of 17 points from free throws.

The first quarter saw Oakland double Youngstown 24-12 in points and 12-6 in rebounds. Oakland’s ability to find the net proved pivotal.

In the first quarter alone, the Golden Grizzlies shot a field-goal percentage of 55.6, compared to Youngstown’s 31.3 percent.

As the second half commenced, Oakland seemed to have lost some of the momentum it had found earlier in the game.

Although Youngstown converted points more effectively in the second quarter, Oakland still managed to outshoot the visitors 15-14. By halftime, Youngstown faced a 13-point deficit, with the score 39-26 Oakland.

After the intermission, Oakland seemed to have renewed its defensive vigor. Full court-presses and tight coverage in the key allowed the Golden Grizzlies to minimize Youngstown’s offensive efforts while maximizing their own.

Oakland concluded the third quarter by outscoring Youngstown 26-15 for a game score of 65-41.

Oakland sustained pressure on Youngstown and, in the final quarter, outshot the Penguins 15-13.

“I think that our defense leads to offense,” head coach Jeff Tungate said. “I thought we did a great job with our ball pressure. We had active hands and active feet.”

Tungate stressed the importance of producing consistent action off the court.

“For us to be a good team, we’ve got to be high-intensity and high-energy,” Tungate said. “I thought our defense the past three games has been really bad, but they came out and they guarded.”

Members of Oakland’s team expressed just how important the triumph over Youngstown was.

“I feel great,” Graves said. “We stayed a team. We tried to bring as much energy as we could and really picked it up on the defensive end. Basically, we just played together.”

Hannah Little recorded a career-high 19 rebounds with 19 points for her seventh double-double of the season, along with four steals and three blocks. She acknowledged her teammates’ efforts as the driving force behind the win.

“We knew we had to step up,” Little said. “Everyone did their jobs and played their roles. We like where our momentum is taking us and we just have to keep going up.”

Other highlights of the game included Leah Somerfield posting her second career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Taylor Gleason added 9 points to the scoreboard and tied a previous career high of six steals during the game, and Nicole Dodd tied a career best with three assists.

Nola Anderson contributed 9 points and matched a season-best of seven rebounds, while Sha’Keya Graves rounded off the team with a total of 15 points, accompanied by two assists and one rebound.

Oakland women’s basketball will hit the road for its next game at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 27 against Northern Kentucky University.