Carnago’s return sparks Oakland’s win over Southern Utah
ROCHESTER HILLS – Brittany Carnago returned to Oakland University’s lineup Saturday afternoon and OU returned ton the win column.
Carnago, Oakland’ 6-foot-3 post player, scored 19 points in her first game in two weeks and aided the Golden Grizzlies’ 59-45 Summit League women’s basketball win over Southern Utah at the Athletics Center’ Orena.
Bethany Watterworth scored 20 to power the Oakland (11-13, 7–8). Victoria Lipscomb was one rebound shy of a double-double for the Golden Grizzlies, adding 10 points and nine rebounds.
“Brittany was unbelievable tonight,” said Oakland head coach Beckie Francis. “It was really helpful to have her doing what she did and opening things up for Bethany. It was a really good team win and I was really happy with our defense.”
The Oakland trio of Watterworth, Carnago and Lipscomb accounted for 49 of the team’s 59 points. The OU career leader in blocked shots, Carnago added eight rejections on Saturday after shaking off an illness that kept her out of the previous three games. The Golden Grizzlies held Southern Utah to just 18 first-half points and did not allow any Thunderbirds to reach double-digits.
Carnago scored 13 points in the first half and Watterworth had 10 to give the Golden Grizzlies a 28-18 halftime lead. Lipscomb scored eight of her points in the second half and led Oakland with nine rebounds and six assists. That helped OU win the battle of the boards 38-25 against a Southern Utah team that averages over 40 rebounds per game.
Kimie Hawkins and Andrea Jones were the joint leading scorers for Southern Utah, while Carli Moreland added eight. The Thunderbirds shot just 35.4 percent from the field, while Oakland finished the game shooting 42.3 percent.
The second leading scorer in The Summit League this season, Watterworth scored 20 or more points for the 11th time this season. The junior forward now has 1,440 career points moving past Nicole Piggott into 12th on the Oakland career scoring list.
Oakland sweeps the season series with Southern Utah and finishes the all-time series 14-0 against SUU at the Athletics Center O’rena, as the Thunderbirds will leave The Summit League at the end of the season. The loss also eliminates Southern Utah from earning a spot in the league tournament.
The Golden Grizzlies return to action on Monday against Oral Roberts at the Athletics Center O’rena at 6:30 p.m. It is the final home game of the year, where Oakland will celebrate senior night for seniors Sharise Calhoun and Carnago.
Category: Campus Clips, Colleges / Other, Oakland University
ADDITIONAL LINKS:
FALL SPORTS
FOOTBALL: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Football&x=12&y=12
SOCCER: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=soccer&x=0&y=0
CROSS COUNTRY: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Cross+country&x=11&y=10
GOLF: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Golf&x=9&y=14
TENNIS: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Tennis&x=13&y=4
VOLLEYBALL: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Volleyball&x=0&y=9
SWIMMING: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Swimming&x=11&y=14
WINTER SPORTS
BASKETBALL: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Basketball&x=13&y=12
WRESTLING: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=wrestling&x=10&y=9
SKIING: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Skiing&x=5&y=14
GYMNASTICS: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Gymnastics&x=10&y=12
HOCKEY: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Hockey&x=11&y=14
SWIMMING: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Swimming&x=11&y=14
BOWLING: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Bowling&x=4&y=13
COMPETITIVE CHEER: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Competitive+Cheer&x=6&y=10
SPRING SPORTS
BASEBALL: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Baseball&x=16&y=13
SOFTBALL: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Softball&x=8&y=11
TRACK AND FIELD: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=track&x=14&y=11
LACROSSE: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=lacrosse&x=12&y=9
TENNIS: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Tennis&x=13&y=4
GOLF: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Golf&x=9&y=14
SOCCER: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=soccer&x=0&y=0