Purdue Fort Wayne
Oakland
Women's Basketball Takes Down Oakland
1/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2008
Fort Wayne, IN - Senior guard Johnna Lewis-Carlisle poured in a game-high 22 points, and freshman guard Jordan Zuppe tossed in 17, as IPFW topped Oakland University, 75-70 in a barn-burner at the Memorial Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
The win raised the Mastodons record to 6-11 and 4-3 in Summit League play.
Head Coach Chris Paul's team got out of the gate quickly in the opening half as sophomore guard Courtney Reed ripped the nets from behind the arc, giving IPFW an early, 13-5 advantage.
Lewis-Carlisle kept the 'Dons rolling, with a couple of first half triples. She had 14 at the break.
The 'Dons would lead by as many as 12 in the half, and that came on a mid-range jumper by junior guard Tina Moen at the 4:07 mark (33-21).
OU senior forward Charlese Greer put in two of her seven first half points, and the Golden Grizzlies cut the Mastodon lead to 36-29 at the intermission.
That set the pace for a frenetic second half.
IPFW threatened to pull away early as senior forward Natalie Roberts hit back-to-back, pick-and-roll layups pushing the 'Dons lead to 14.
But, Oakland refused to go away quitely.
Sophomore forward Hanna Reising converted an old-fashioned three-point play, and junior guard April Kidd got an acrobatic layin to go to cut IPFW's lead to just two at
49-47.
IPFW fought back the Oakland charge.
Zuppe let one fly from NBA range and found nothing but the bottom of the net, increasing the 'Dons lead back to nine at 46-47, with 12:14 left.
Oakland surged yet again, and on a 10-2 run, courtesy of a Riikka Terava hoop, pulled to within one at 58-57.
The Golden Grizzlies took their first lead of the game with 6:48 left on a pair of Reising free throws, 59-58.
Coach Paul, who had gone to a four-guard lineup, quickly inserted Roberts and senior forward Juliane Hohne back into the lineup, and the move paid off.
Hohne worked the pick-and-roll perfectly on two possessions as the 'Dons pushed back in front.
IPFW took the lead for good on a Zuppe hoop at the 2:07 mark.
All the Mastodons had to do was hit their foul shots the rest of the way, and they did. Hohne stepped to the line and hit a pair with :37 remaining to basically seal the win.
"We were in a very similar situation with Oral Roberts," Coach Paul said after the game. "Tonight we stepped up and answered after Oakland came back to take the lead. Hopefully that is a sign of a growing basketball team, and that we are learning how to win."
While Lewis-Carlisle and Zuppe put up the big numbers, Paul was pleased with the production from the rest of the lineup.
"Johnna did what Johnna does," Paul said. "She makes big shots."
"I was proud of our freshman guard (Zuppe) who had a tough first half, but came back and hit some big baskets for us in the second half. Natalie (Roberts) and Julie (Hohne) are our two-headed monster, when ones not going, the other steps up. Natalie was strong inside for us, and I was proud of the way Julie came off the bench in the second half, hitting those two huge layups and those crucial foul shots at the end."
Roberts finished with nine, Hohne eight.
Paul also got some strong minutes from freshman guard Chelsey Jackson who finished with nine points.
Reising led Oakland with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Oakland hit 50.9% of their shots from the floor and outrebounded IPFW, 41-25, but couldn't overcome IPFW's nine 3-pointers.
The loss was only Oakland's second in Summit League play (12-5, 4-2).
The Mastodons will step out of conference one final time, on Tuesday night, hosting the University of Texas-Pan American at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center at 7:00 p.m.
The 'Dons will then hit the road for a pair of Summit League games to finish the month of January (1/26 @ IUPUI and 1/28 @ Western Illinois).
~Dons~
