Purdue Fort Wayne
Oakland
Grizzly Runs Close Door on Mastodons
2/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 14, 2009
Rochester, MI - The Oakland Grizzlies used a pair of double-digit runs (10-0 and 14-0) to push out to a large halftime lead, cruising to a 76-49 final score on Valentines Day in Summit League action on Saturday afternoon.
Eva Ivanova paced the squad with 14 points and three blocked shots, while Jordan Zuppe scored 10. Nanyamka Moore, a senior from Detroit, Michigan and playing in front of a friendly crowd, finished with a team-high nine rebounds, tying her career-high while dishing out a career-best seven assists and adding six points.
IPFW (5-20, 4-10 Summit) reached the scoreboard first, on a Chelsey Jackson three-point basket on IPFW's second possession of the game, and the Mastodon defense held Oakland scoreless for the first two minutes of the game before the Grizzlies' Melissa Jeltema started what would end up being a 10-0 Oakland run, giving the hosts a lead that they would not give up for the remainder of the game.
The `Dons scored six of the game's next nine points to close to within four at 13-9, and trailed again by four after Jessica Pike and Zuppe traded three-point baskets taking the score to 16-12.
Oakland (20-5, 11-2 Summit) scored five straight before Jackson ended that streak with a basket, before the Grizzly defense came on strong, holding IPFW scoreless for four and a half minutes, while running off 14 consecutive points for what would amount to a back-breaking run in the game.
IPFW would not stay down, however, as Nan Moore scored a basket, and then made a pair of free throws, before Anne Boese knocked down a long-range shot to put the finishing touches on a 7-0 run, cutting the gap to 14 at 35-21. The quick IPFW run would be for naught, as Oakland ended the half on a 6-2 run, with all six points for the Grizzlies coming from Pike, including an old-fashioned three-point play with two seconds remaining on the clock, giving the hosts a 41-23 halftime lead.
Oakland threw the proverbial knockout punch to open the second half, scoring the first eight points of the second stanza, pushing ahead to a 49-23 lead. Following the second-half-opening run, Ivanova ran off an 8-2 run of her own, cutting the gap to 20 at 51-31, but the Mastodons would be unable to close any closer than that the rest of the way, as the Grizzlies used their third double-digit run of the game, a 10-0 push late in the second half, in the lopsided Oakland victory.
IPFW made 18-of-51 (35.3%) shots in the game, while converting on 6-of-14 (42.9%) from long range and 7-of-10 from the charity stripe. Oakland hit 40.6 percent of their shots (26-of-64) from the field, and three of their eight three-point attempts (37.5%). The big difference in the game came at the free throw line, where Oakland made 21-of-29 attempts (72.4%), giving the hosts 14 more points from the charity stripe.
Preseason Summit League Player of the Year Jessica Pike scored a game-high 19 points, as she led three other Grizzlies in double figures: Melissa Jeltema with 14, and April Kidd and Hanna Reising, who each scored 11. Kidd, the defending Summit League Player of the Week, pulled down 12 rebounds for the double-double, while also dishing out a team-best six assists. Jeltema also added 10 rebounds for the double-double, as the hosts out-rebounded IPFW 44-33 in the victory.
The Mastodon road trip continues next weekend, as the squad travels to Macomb, Illinois, where they will face off against the Westerwinds of Western Illinois University in the first game of a women's/men's double header starting at 5:30 PM EST on February 21. The trip ends in Indianapolis, where the squad plays visitor at IUPUI on Monday, February 23, starting at 7:00 PM.
~Dons~
