The Golden Grizzlies headed to Indianapolis this past Sunday to play the IUPUI Jaguars, but were defeated by a score of 85-69 that ended Oakland’s three-game winning streak. 

It was a special game for Breanne Beatty, marking her 100th career start. She scored 15 points.

The Jaguars were quiet in the beginning as Oakland held down a 9-0 run. Alexis Johnson started Oakland’s offense but IUPUI buckled down defensively, getting some stops and it got things going offensively. Oakland still maintained their lead in the first quarter, up two at 19-17. 

By the second quarter, the Jaguars came in with a different mentality. They outscored the Grizzlies 28-15. 

It was the Jaguars’ Rachel Kent who had the hot hand connecting her 3-pointers. She had 19 first-half points. Kent led the team with the most points and a career-high of 30, going 6-8 from 3-point range. IUPUI guard Destiny Perkins was also shooting from distance with back-to-back buckets in the third quarter. 

Miriam Ibezim did a great job of staying on the glass getting those second chance opportunities that cut Oakland’s deficit to 11. 

There were some good things done by forward junior Linda Van Schaik as well. Not only is Van Schaik a shooter but she added some smooth finishes to her game as well with the up and under layup. 

This gave Oakland a little push as it made some quick runs but was stopped once more by IUPUI. The Jaguars were getting looks down low and a lot of their shots came off of transition plays.

IUPUI was still in charge to start the fourth. It had Oakland on thin ice. The Golden Grizzlies eventually started full court pressure to make it tougher for IUPUI, but there wasn’t anything else to it the rest of the game because the Jaguars were still shooting efficiently down the stretch.

IUPUI closed out the game, at an 85-69 score. Although Oakland didn’t have that offensive power and fell short, they still showed great efforts and never let up. 

Brooke Quarles-Daniels did it again, with another game in double figures with 20 points and Van Schaik ended with 12.

The Golden Grizzlies will now make their way back to Rochester to play on the blacktop for the next four home games, starting with the Mastodons of Purdue Fort Wayne on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m.