Purdue Fort Wayne
Oakland
Hot-Shooting Oakland Tops IPFW 79-64
1/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2009
Fort Wayne, IN - Despite hitting half of their 22 three-point field goal attempts, the IPFW Mastodons came out on the wrong end of a 79-64 final score in the 'Dons first game of the season at the Memorial Coliseum.
IPFW was led by Courtney Reed who scored 16 points, with Anne Boese scoring 14 and Sarah Haluska chipping in 10. Haluska pulled down a team-best five rebounds, with Jordan Zuppe dishing out four assists.
Oakland opened the scoring, starting the game on an 8-2 run, with IPFW's points coming on a pair of free throws by Chelsey Jackson.
Down by six, IPFW ran off six straight points on a Haluska free throw and subsequent three-point basket, with the final stretch covered on a Nan Moore jumper with 14:34 left on the first-half clock. The Golden Grizzlies quickly responded, scoring the next nine points to take a 17-8 lead.
A Boese 5-0 run on a lay-in and a three-point basket closed the gap to four; however, IPFW would not be able to close more into the deficit, as Oakland pulled away in the first half, and went into the locker room with a 44-28 halftime lead.
IPFW opened the second half with a Haluska three-point basket, before Oakland scored the next eight points, to pull ahead by 24. The `Dons gradually fought back, but were only able to get as close as 15 the rest of the way in the 79-64 Oakland victory.
The `Dons, ranked fifth in the latest NCAA statistical ranking in three-point field goals per game, helped their average by hitting half of their 22 attempts, including four from Boese, three from Haluska and two each from Zuppe and Reed. Despite the strong three-point percentage, IPFW made just 33.9 percent (20-of-59) of their shots overall, compared to 55.9 percent (33-of-59) for the Grizzlies.
Jessica Pike, the Summit League Pre-Season Player of the Year, scored a game-high 18 points while pulling down four rebounds. Melissa Jeltema and April Kidd each scored 16. Jeltema pulled down a game-high nine rebounds, as Anna Patritto dished out five assists.
The `Dons travel to Chicago, Illinois for their next game, as they face off against Chicago State University on January 20, with tip-off slated for 6:30 PM EST.
~Dons~
