The Golden Grizzlies women’s basketball team (17-12) enters the Summit League Tournament as the second seed just like last season when the team advanced to the championship game but lost to South Dakota State.

The team is riding a six-game winning streak and has lost just three of the last 18 games since Dec. 29 following a disappointing 2-11 start to the season.

Oakland University’s early-season results in non-conference play are somewhat deceiving given that the team was still reeling from the loss of starting center Brittany Carnago, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the exhibition season. Carnago was expected to be an all-conference player this season.

But the Grizzlies hit their stride once the calender turned to January, and finished with a 14-4 Summit League record, which earned them an extra day of rest on Sunday if they advance past the opening round.

The Grizzlies’ first round matchup is Saturday against Western Illinois, a team OU handled with relative ease twice this season. Oakland limited the Leathernecks to just 36 and 44 points in the two meetings, the lowest scoring efforts against conference opponents all season.

The favorite to win the tournament will be No. 1 seed Oral Roberts. The Golden Eagles defeated Oakland twice this season behind the strength of a high scoring freshman duo.

Host team South Dakota State is the third seed and will be looking to defend its tournament win from last season. SDSU and OU split the season series this year.

Oakland is led offensively by senior forward Melissa Jeltema, who averages over 15 points per game. Freshman forward Bethany Watterworth (13.8 points per game) will enter the tournament coming off a 32-point performance in the regular season finale.

The team held its conference opponents to under 60 points per game on average, the best mark in the Summit League this season.

Oakland’s opening round game against Western Illinois is Saturday at 3:30 p.m. eastern time.

If OU advances, a matchup between the winner of the South Dakota State – IPFW game awaits the Grizzlies.