The Golden Grizzlies women’s basketball team suffered a stunning opening round loss to seventh-seeded Western Illinois, 68-57 in Sioux Falls, S.D. Saturday afternoon.

Oakland University carried a six-game winning streak into the quarterfinal matchup, but that momentum came to an abrupt halt in the second half against the Leathernecks when OU just couldn’t get its shots to fall.

“They’re shocked still,” Grizzlies coach Beckie Francis said. “It still hasn’t set in. There are still people crying in the locker room with towels over their heads.”

Oakland’s cold shooting throughout the game was the main culprit, with the team converting just 30.4 percent of its shots from the floor, including an anemic 21.4 percent in the second half.

“I just think the basketball gods did not want us to win,”  Francis said. “As the game went on, I think we started getting tight. When you can’t get shots to fall, you get tense and the other team gets more relaxed.”

In contrast, the Leathernecks saved their best shooting performance of the season for the big stage with a steady 44 percent in each half. Following the opening minutes, WIU never experienced a scoring drought.

“We looked at their field goal percentage for the year, they don’t shoot like that. We’re the best defensive team in the league and they hit all their shots. I give them all the credit for that. They were patient and they should have won the game,” Francis said.

Western Illinois’ 37 points in the second half were more than it scored in the entire game in the last meeting between the teams back on Jan. 30.

Senior Melissa Jeltema, who was named first team all-Summit League on Thursday, scored 16 points for OU, but 14 of those points came in the first half.

“In the entire game, they were doubling me. I didn’t get the looks and I just didn’t hit the shots that I needed to,” Jeltema said.

The Grizzlies got off to a good start in the game, beginning on an 8-0 run. But they immediately allowed WIU back into the game and OU lost its lead just four and a half minutes later at 13:27 of the first half.

The two teams traded leads over the remainder of the half and the Grizzlies went into the break with a 32-31 lead following a tough layup from directly beneath the basket by Jeltema.

Calhoun scored the first four points of the second half to push Oakland’s lead to five.

But the game took a turn when WIU’s Anneloes Kodde tied the game up, 38-38, at the 16:12 mark. A 2-point jumper by Anne Borgertpoepping on the next possession put the Leathernecks ahead and Oakland never regained the lead.

Down the stretch, the Grizzlies only got as close as four points with 2:50 remaining. In the final three and a half minutes, Oakland failed to convert a field goal while in desperation mode.

WIU sealed the game on free throw shots down the stretch, while Oakland couldn’t convert several open opportunities at the other end of the court.

Freshman Bethany Watterworth struggled throughout and was just 1-for-9 shooting in the follow-up to her 32-point performance a week ago.

Sharise Calhoun, the Grizzlies sophomore guard, was the team’s most efficient scorer going 5-for-10 from the field and finishing with 16 points to match Jeltema for the team-high.

This outcome marked just the third time in Summit League history that a No. 7 seed defeated a No. 2 seed. It was also the Grizzlies’ earliest exit from the tournament since 2004.

Possible postseason play in a tournament other than the NCAA’s will be determined later this week for Oakland.