Oakland City, IN – The women's basketball team advanced to the River States Conference Championship game after taking down Point Park 74-55 on Saturday afternoon in the Johnson Center. The Mighty Oaks lead the semifinal contest from start to finish, with the win Oakland City secured an automatic bid to the NAIA National tournament and an appearance in the RSC title game against Rio Grande.
Senior
Emilee Hope hit two three pointers to open the game and had eight of her game high 18 points in a dominating first quarter for the Mighty Oaks. Hope also contributed six rebounds, three assists and two steals in her 30 minutes of action.
Kyrisha Hay and
Gabrielle Joyner had strong first quarters, Hay completed her game with nine points, two assists and a block, steal and rebound. Joyner finished with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.
With a 21-9 lead to start the second quarter,
Tabatha Klem quickly picked up a steal and hit two free throws to extend the lead for the Mighty Oaks. Klem had 10 points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal and went 4-4 from the free throw line. Oakland City maintained a double-digit lead most of the quarter pushing the lead to 17 with 3:24 left in the half before ultimately taking a 38-25 lead into the break.
Point Park came out and cut the deficit to six to start the second half but that would be the final push from the Pioneers as Oakland City responded with a 12-0 run and never looked back.
Monesjia Harvey started and finished the scoring for the Mighty Oaks in the third quarter before finishing her afternoon with six points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.
In the final quarter the Mighty Oaks continued to add to the lead, a jumper by
Jalaya Dowell in the paint extended the margin to 27 points with 2:10 remaining in the game. Dowell finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and five blocks. Oakland City starter
Erin Whitehead contributed eight points, four rebounds and an assist in the 74-55 victory.
Oakland City 23-6, (17-1) now faces Rio Grande 25-5, (16-1) in the Championship game of the River States Conference on Tuesday March 5
th in Rio Grande, OH at 7pm ET. The storm knocked off Oakland City 79-58 in their only meeting this season back in January.
