The Oakland University women’s basketball team defeated South Dakota 59-46 Thursday at the Athletics Center O’rena. The 13-point victory snapped a five-game losing streak for the Grizzlies.

Freshmen forwards Olivia Nash and Sinclair Russell both finished the game with double-doubles.

Nash’s seventh double-double of the season puts her in a tie for first place in the Summit League for most double-doubles this season. She finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds.

Russell, in a starting role for the first time in her career, scored 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

“The losing streak actually brought us closer together as a team,” Russell said. “We were even more prepared for this game, fought even harder, and that’s how we were able to come out with a win.”

The first half was a struggle for both offenses as Oakland (9-15, 3-9 Summit) and South Dakota (12-13, 7-5 Summit) shot under 30 percent from the field. The Grizzlies were 8-31 while South Dakota finished the half 9-33.

After South Dakota got out to an 11-8 lead with 14:05 remaining in the half, both teams remained scoreless for four minutes. Junior guard Zakiya Minifee, who has been nursing a knee injury, went down and was eventually helped off the court.

Minifee’s injury seemed to breathe new life into Oakland. The first play after the delay in the game resulted in a steal and assist from Russell, who gave the ball to Nash for a layup.

“We came back stronger as a team for her,” Minifee said.

After a 4-0 run from South Dakota, Oakland answered with a run of its own to tie it up, 15-15. The Grizzlies continued with a 5-0 run to reach their highest lead of the game up until that point, 20-15.

At halftime, South Dakota led Oakland 22-20. Head coach Beckie Francis was so mad that certain plays didn’t go the way she called for that she had one of her assistant coaches give the halftime speech for the first two minutes.

“Then I went in and I was nice and calm and encouraging,” Francis said. “I was encouraged because we had out rebounded them in the first half and that was a good sign. I just ‘let’s do it.’”

The Grizzlies jumped out to a 4-0 run, putting them on top by two points to start the half. Junior guard Elizabeth Hamlet hit a jumper to give Oakland a 30-26 lead with 14:08 remaining in the game.

Oakland has recently struggled in the second half of games. Thursday, the Grizzlies held South Dakota to just 9-29 shooting. Oakland out rebounded South Dakota 28-13 in the second half and 54-36 overall.

“Basically it was defensive intensity,” Russell said. “There was never a let down in the second half. We came out strong, we got stops.”

Oakland returns to action at the O’rena Feb. 16 against Kansas City at 2 p.m.