Oakland City, IN - In one of the most highly anticipated games of the regular season to this point, the Oakland City University women's basketball team hosted the Red Storm of the University of Rio Grande. Both teams owned a perfect 10-0 mark in River States Conference action entering the game, with the Oaks standing at 15-3 overall, receiving votes in the NAIA national poll, while the Red Storm held a 17-2 mark as well as a number 11 ranking in the country.
After the first quarter of play, OCU saw themselves trailing 24-18, but were able to turn things around in the second quarter, leading 45-41 at the halftime break. In the second half, the Oaks held off every charge mounted by the Red Storm, pulling away to a 76-61 entering the final period of play, winning by the final score of 105-90.
Emilee Hope led the way for the Oaks in scoring, making 9-13 from the field including 3-5 from three point range on her way to 23 points.
Tabatha Klem came off the bench to play a big role in the victory, scoring 20 points, going 6-8 from the field, including 1-2 from distance, as well as a perfect 7-7 mark at the foul line.
Taylor Dillard came up with 17 points to go with a game high six assists, while joining
Davinique Campbell with a team-best seven rebounds each.
Marissa Austin contributed 15 points on 5-8 shooting, with 2-4 from long range, while
Erin Whitehead also contributed quality minutes off the bench, scoring 11 points on 3-5 shooting, 5-6 from the charity stripe.
Ella Skeens scored a game-high 25 points for the Red Storm, going 10-25 from the floor, while nabbing a game-high ten rebounds for a double-double. Azyiah Williams added 17 counters, while Kaylee Darnell was held to 13 points, shooting just 4-20 from the field, including 1-6 from three point range. Lexi Woods came off the bench to added 13 points in the loss.
As a team, the Oaks led 44-42 in rebounds despite trailing 26-14 on the offensive glass. OCU led 23-12 in assists and 11-2 in blocked shots, but trailed the Red Storm 8-5 in steals and 18-9 in turnovers.OCU made 36-60 (60.0%) from the field, including 7-15 (46.7%) from three point range, while going 26-37 (70.3%) from the foul line. Rio Grande scored on 32-84 (38.1%) of their shot attempts, making just 2-15 (13.3%) from distance, and made 24-30 (80.0%) of their free throw shots.
There were a total of six ties and five lead changes in the contest. The largest Rio Grande lead came with 2:24 remaining in the opening quarter, while the Oaks opened up a 19 points advantage with 41 seconds remaining in the game.
The Mighty Oaks will return to action on Hall of Fame Day/Homecoming when they host the Bearcats of Brescia University on Saturday, January 28, with game one tipping off at 1:00 pm.
