The Oakland University women’s basketball suffered a heartbreaking loss Saturday afternoon, falling 60-59 to North Dakota State.

Freshman forward Marena Whittle hit a game-winning jumper with only three seconds left on the clock, handing Oakland (7-10, 1-4 Summit) their third straight loss.

The last few minutes of regulation doomed the Golden Grizzlies, allowing an almost-sure victory to evaporate to the hands of the Bison (6-11, 2-3 Summit). OU head coach Beckie Francis described the waning moments of the contest as a nightmare. 

“I don’t even know what to say,” Francis said. “We were just one bucket short.”

The fateful sequence started in the final four minutes of the game, as Oakland was held off the scoreboard during that span. With just under 30 seconds left and the Grizzlies nursing a slim single point lead, the deciding play occurred.

Having possession, Oakland attempted to inbound the ball, expecting to be fouled by the Bison in order to stop the clock. The Grizzlies successfully accomplished this three consecutive times, with NDSU quickly fouling each time when the ball was caught. On the fourth attempt, an inbounds pass to freshman forward Sinclair Russell resulted in a jump ball situation, and the possession arrow pointed in favor of the Bison.

“We just had a turnover,” Francis said. “I thought it was a little bit of a quick whistle, and our player was calling for the timeout. North Dakota State just played really good defense, and it just didn’t go our way since it happened to be their possession.”

The final moments of the game erased what had been a strong performance by the Golden Grizzlies, led by Victoria Lipscomb’s double-double. The junior guard had 14 points and 10 rebounds, with nine points and eight rebounds coming exclusively after halftime.

“Victoria was a stud,” Francis said. “She has a lot of young players with her, and she is really keeping her composure and playing great defense, rebounding, and hitting big shots. She came up really big in the second half.”

Oakland opened the second half on a 10-3 run, setting the tempo early in the second stanza.

“We knew we had to come out strong in the second half,” Lipscomb said. “In the locker room we talked about how we wanted to give them a good punch and not let ourselves get hit with a run. We came out with a lot of intensity, but we have to be able to maintain that through the whole second half.”

That intensity fizzled fast as NDSU countered with a 12-4 run to tie the game at 41 all. Both teams traded baskets, and the lead, before the deciding waning seconds.

The Bison were led by senior guard Katie Birkel who poured in 22 points. Whittle only had four points (the game-winner was her only field goal of the game), but she led all players with 15 rebounds.

Behind Lipscomb’s double-double, freshman guard Elena Popkey had an impressive all-around game, scoring 13, dishing seven assists, and grabbing six rebounds.

Oakland looks to end its losing streak with a trip to Kansas City on Jan. 17. That game is the start of a three game road trip that includes South Dakota and Fort Wayne.

“If the team is anything like their coach, a loss like this just fires you up,” Francis said. “You almost feel bad for who is our next opponent because we are going to be so angry. That is how I feel as a competitor.”