Going into Friday’s game, Oakland’s record was 0-1 while Niagara University had a record of 1-0. However, neither team had faced a conference team. 

Head Coach Jeff Tungate stated: “for us to get better for league play, we have to do a better job taking care of the basketball. You can’t turn it over twenty eight times and expect to win.”

Starting the game, Oakland won the tip off. Within the first quarter, Niagara put 13 points on the board while Oakland put 27 up. Kayla Luchenbach put up two points, Breanne Beatty put up eight, Kahlaijah Dean put up five, Olivia Sims put up eight, Alona Blackwell put up two and Helen Staley put up two points.

During the second quarter, ball possession dropped to 44%, but that did not stop the girls from scoring sixteen points. Luchenbach put up two points, Lamariyee “Sug” Williams added two points up, Beatty put up two, Dean put up two, Sims put up eight, Breanna Perry added two onto the board, Blackwell put up two and Aaliyah McQueen put up four. In the second period, Oakland kept up the possession rate of the ball. 

“We shot 50% from the floor which is great,” Tungate said. “We did a good job rebounding for the first three quarters. Got a few good ones in the first half which got us good buckets and good momentum.”

The women may have met defeat against the University of Toledo on Tuesday, but came back to the court and took what they learned from that and applied it. The communication was up, the players were balanced across the board, and the score reflected that.

Going into the second half, the women had the lead 43-24. Teams had fumbles and recovered much differently than Tuesday’s game. Oakland had 22 turnovers and University of Niagara with six. The strong rebounding ability from the Golden Grizzlies assisted in their possession percentage.

In the third quarter, Luchenbach put up two points, Williams added eight points, Beatty put up two, Dean put up four, Brianna Breedy put four points on the board, Sims put up four and Perry added two onto the board. Breedy makes a shot for a three pointer — which got stuck in the rim of the net. This results in a jump ball.

In the fourth quarter, Luchenbach put up two points, Williams added two points, Beatty put up two and Perry added four onto the board. Oakland won by a final score of 77-64. They concluded the game with a 50% possession rate on the court.

“Our team played hard, and played hard in both games,” Tungate said. “They have good chemistry. They are committed to winning and doing the right things but we get a lead then kind of let up. Had a good start against Toledo then went back in, same thing here. Got to the fourth quarter and stopped playing.”

The team’s next game is Thursday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. against Youngstown State University.