By Tim Rath

It seems fitting that in the first year of the newly-christened Summit League, the 2007-08 Oakland University women’s basketball season was full of peaks and valleys.

Expectations were high for the Grizzlies, as they began the season picked to finish second in the Summit League’s preseason poll. 

Despite the total absence of seniors from the starting five, as well as the graduations of Bonnie Baker, Nicole Piggott, and Joya Puryear, head coach Beckie Francis believed that the lofty mark was justified.

“We thought it was very respectful that they picked us No. 2,” she told The Oakland Press in an Oct. 2007 interview. 

The team came out of the gate strong.     

The Grizzlies dominated Columbia and Marygrove to open the season, then nearly pulled out the heart of its non-conference schedule in losing close against nationally-ranked no. 24 Auburn and no. 7 Georgia, the latter contest on the road.

Through the disappointing losses, OU appeared to have gained the idea that they could hang with any team in the country, regardless of stature.

This was never more apparent than when no. 21 Florida State came to Rochester on Dec. 2. 

OU rarely trailed against the Seminoles, and took a large lead into halftime knowing that they had done the same to Georgia. This time, however, the Grizzlies took care of FSU and notched their first win against a top-25 opponent since 2001.

The Grizzlies began conference play with a 9-3 record (the team’s best mark since joining Division 1) and momentum enough to carry them to a 5-1 conference record by mid-January.

It was around that time that inevitable injuries began to disrupt the Grizzlies’ season. Playing without freshman forward Brittany Carnago and senior forward Charlese Greer helped contribute to a 2-7 winter swoon that dropped OU’s record to 7-6 in Summit League play.

Francis rallied the team to an emotional victory over IPFW on Feb. 16 that she called as “indescribable.” 

Although the injury bug claimed sophomore forward Hanna Reising before the game, the team was able to rip off a five-game winning streak to close out the season and head to the Summit League Championship Tournament ranked first.

However, it was in Tulsa that the emotional and physical wear of the season was evident on the young Grizzlies.

After dominating Centenary in two regular season matchups, it came as a surprise when the Grizzlies struggled against them in the first half of their quarterfinal matchup.

Although OU rallied to defeat the Ladies, they were not so lucky in their semifinal matchup. 

The Grizzlies looked tired against Oral Roberts, committing an uncharacteristic 20 turnovers and shooting only 36 percent from the field in a 71-61 loss that ended their season.

After the game, exhaustion was apparent on Francis’ face, as she had no problem explaining the upset loss.

“I do think the home crowd helps,” she said. “[Reising] tried to go out there and play, but she hadn’t practiced in three weeks.”

Going into next season, several Grizzlies have proven themselves as an effective supporting cast for Pike, selected as first-team all-conference for the second-straight season.

Second-team all-conference guard Melissa Jeltema established herself as a double-double machine, notching seven on the season.

Reising’s play got her an honorable mention all-conference, and posed match-up problems all season for opposing frontcourts that couldn’t defend her soft touch from the perimeter, nor stop her from grabbing rebounds.

It would appear that the Grizzlies have all that they need to take the next step in ascending to the top of the Summit League.