Oakland rallies to topple UMKC 71-65 in overtime
ROCHESTER HILLS – to win a league title, a team must have some moments of drama. Oakland University got that Thursday night against UMKC.
Zakiya Minifee hit a 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left in regulation to force overtime and the Oakland women’s basketball team went on to claim a 71-65 overtime victory. Over the Kangaroos at the Athletics Center O’rena.
(3-3, 1-0) rallied to win 71-65 in its Summit League-opener against UMKC (5-3, 0-1) on Thursday at the Athletics Center O’rena.
Victoria Lipscomb had a double-double and led all players with five points in overtime, while Bethany Watterworth scored a game-high 26 points.
“It feels good to start the league off 1-0,” said Oakland head coach Beckie Francis. “I really respect UMKC for how hard they came out and fought tonight. They have a lot of seniors that have played a lot of basketball against us and it showed in this game.”
Watterworth hit a free throw with 1:50 to play in overtime to give Oakland (3-3, 1-0) its first lead since the 14:29 mark in the second half. The Golden Grizzlies were paced by five overtime-points from Lipscomb never trailed again. The OU defense did not allow UMKC to score a field goal in overtime.
Oakland trailed by as many as 11 points with 8:37 remaining in the game, but continued to chip away at the lead, beginning with a 3-pointer from Amy Carlton. Oakland’s Malika Glover added a key three-point play to cut the lead to 63-61 with just 18 seconds left in regulation. After the Kangaroos went 1-of-3 at the line, Lipscomb found a wide-open Minifee, who scored the basket to force overtime.
“I knew that I was wide-open on that drive and I didn’t think about (the shot),” said Minifee. “It’s probably why I made it; because I wasn’t over-thinking it.”
Minifee had a career-high 15 rebounds, including eight offensive boards and also led OU with six assists. Lipscomb finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds to help Oakland outrebound UMKC, 56-41. Brittany Carnago added 10 points for OU, which earned a 32-18 edge in points in the paint.
The Kangaroos lived by the 3-pointer in the first half, knocking down eight triples on nine made baskets to take a 28-26 lead into the half. UMKC finished the game 10-for-23 beyond the arc, but was just 9-of-17 at the free-throw line.
LeAndrea Thomas led the ‘Roos with 16 points, while Eilise O’Connor and Kim Nezianya both had 13 points and Dayon Hall-Jones added 11. Brianna Eldridge was a factor on the glass with 15 rebounds including nine offensive rebounds.
The Golden Grizzlies shot 40.6 percent from the field, while limiting UMKC to 31.1 percent shooting. OU also went 15-of-20 at the free-throw line in the final 25 minutes, after going three consecutive halves without a free throw.
Oakland returns to Summit League play on Saturday, hosting league newcomers South Dakota in the O’rena at 3:30 p.m. The game will be a double-header with the OU men’s team.
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