On Tuesday, Nov. 5, the Oakland women’s basketball team opened their regular season with a loss to the Michigan State Spartans with a final score of 107-42 on the road at the Breslin Center.
The game marks the second year in a row the Golden Grizzlies have opened their season against the Spartans. Additionally, the loss is the largest margin Michigan State has dealt the Golden Grizzlies throughout their history of play.
Maddy Skorupski, a former Spartan, led the Golden Grizzlies in scoring with 19 points while bringing in a team-high five rebounds. Skorupski led Oakland in assists, dishing out two throughout the game.
For the Spartans, Grace VanSlooten was one of six Spartans to reach double digits, leading the team in scoring with 15 points and crashing the boards for a team-high nine rebounds.
The Spartans wasted no time getting ahead in the game’s opening minutes. After making their first two attempts from the field, VanSlooten made it to the line twice, making all four of her attempts as turnovers and early fouls started to pile up for the Golden Grizzlies.
After almost three minutes without a point, Skorupski was fouled by Jocelyn Tate. Skorupski knocked down one of her two attempts for Oakland’s first point of the evening at the free-throw line, making it a 10-1 game in favor of Michigan State.
As the first quarter continued, the Spartans started to pull away early from the Golden Grizzlies, and Oakland struggled early from the three-point line, missing all five of their attempts from deep. Michigan State closed out the first quarter of play, scoring nine unanswered points for a 31-10 lead over the Golden Grizzlies.
In the second quarter, Oakland continued to struggle offensively, and the Spartans offense remained dominant. Throughout the entire second quarter, the Golden Grizzlies only added eight points to their score, as Oakland went into the break down 58-18.
Come the third quarter, Oakland was able to hang around with Michigan State for most of the quarter, refusing to let the Spartans expand their lead as Kylie Buckley, Macy Smith and Skorupski found some consistent stretches on offense.
However, despite the Golden Grizzlies’ efforts, they couldn’t cut into the Spartan lead, and Michigan State closed the quarter on an 8-1 run, once again expanding their lead heading into the game’s final quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Spartan’s momentum carried over as the team scored the first six points of the quarter. With an over 50-point deficit, Oakland could not close the gap.
Turnovers proved to be the defining factor in the Golden Grizzlies’ season opener. With 33 turnovers, 22 of which were Spartan steals, Michigan State had an abundance of fastbreak opportunities.
By the end of the game, the Spartans scored 38 fastbreak points. Michigan State was also incredibly efficient after forcing a turnover, as 44 points came off turnovers.
“When you force turnovers, you have ‘advantage basketball’; you’re usually in a situation to create a really good shot,” Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick said.
Next, the Golden Grizzlies will face another Big Ten opponent, the Michigan Wolverines, on Sunday, Nov. 17. The game will be played on the road and start at noon. It also marks a matchup against former Golden Grizzly freshman of the year Brooke Quarles-Daniels.
