Oakland routs Centenary by 64 in homecoming win

ROCHESTER HILLS – Centenary’s final trip to Oakland University was a forgettable one.

Sophomore Bethany Watterworth had 17 points to lead five players in double-digits for the Oakland University women’s basketball team in a 100-36 Summit League win over Centenary on Saturday at the Athletics Center O’rena. The Golden Grizzlies shot 80 percent from the field in the second half and the Ladies 59-16 in the period.

“I was really pleased with the consistency of all the players for the whole 40 minutes,” said Oakland head coach Beckie Francis. “I didn’t feel like any of our players let up at any time and I was really proud of our focus.”

Watterworth hit a career-high five 3-pointers to lead OU (14-7, 8-2), which went 7-for-16 (43.8 percent) from beyond the arc. Freshman Zakiya Minifee was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field and scored 16 points, to go with eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Junior Sharise Calhoun added 16 points, four assists and four rebounds.

Freshman Malika Glover was one point shy of her career-high with 15 points, while freshman Liz Hamlet provided a spark off the bench with 13 points. All nine of the Oakland players that entered the game scored as the team shot 66.7 percent from the field for the game.

Leading 41-21 at the half, Oakland turned up both its offensive and defensive pressure to run away with the game in the second half. The Golden Grizzlies held the Ladies scoreless for over nine minutes in the second half, keeping the Ladies off the board from the 10:50 to 1:18 mark in the half.  Centenary (0-17, 0-10) shot just 27.6 percent from the field and was just 1-for-16 from beyond the arc.

Junior Brittany Carnago had a career-best nine assists to help Oakland to a season-best 31 assists in the game. Carnago also recorded six blocks as she continues to lead The Summit League in blocks this season, ranking 15th in NCAA at 2.85 blocks per game. She is now just 11 blocks shy of moving into third place for career blocks at OU. Carnago also added a game-high nine rebounds to help Oakland  to a 40-24 rebounding advantage.

The Golden Grizzlies led for the entire game, scoring on the first possession and going on a 6-0 run. Oakland took a 12-2 lead with 14:26to play in the first half and led by double-digits for the remainder of the game. With the win Oakland is now 18-0 all-time against Centenary.

Oakland has now won nine consecutive games since losing in overtime to Penn State in the home opener.

Tags: college women's basketball

Category: Oakland University