Oakland rolls past Rochester College
ROCHESTER HILLS – Oakland University didn’t waste much time in pulling away from Rochester College Thursday, building an early nine-point lead and cruising past the NAIA Warriors.
Bethany Watterworth scored 17 points and added six assists and five rebounds to pace Oakland. Victoria Lipscomb added 11 points, and Brittany Carnago turned in 10 points and five rebounds as the OU posted a 74-30 win over Rochester College at the Athletics Center O’rena.
“This was a good overall effort by our team,” said Oakland Associate Head Coach Eric Stephan. “We played very unselfish basketball tonight which was nice to see. Defensively, we were strong as we controlled the glass and held them to a very low shooting percentage. ”
Oakland opened the game hot, starting the contest on a 9-0 run. The Golden Grizzlies pushed the lead to 16 (19-3) after a layup by Watterworth at the 13:13 mark in the opening half. A 3-pointer by Rochester College’s Sam Tomaschko cut the OU lead to 14 (26-12) with 3:55 remaining in the half, but OU finished the half on a 12-3 run to go into the intermission with a 38-15 lead.
OU outscored Rochester College 24-8 in the paint in the opening half, and had a 16-3 advantage in points off turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
Oakland opened the second half on a tear, using a 14-0 run to push the lead to 37 points (52-15) at the 14:45 mark after a jumper by Lipsomb, and the Golden Grizzlies held the Warriors (4-4) at arm’s length the remainder of the way, outscoring Rochester College 7-0 over the final two minutes of play. The 44-point margin of victory was OU’s largest lead of the contest.
The Golden Grizzlies’ defense turned in a stellar effort, holding the Warriors to 15 points in each half and 25.6 percent shooting for the evening. OU held a 41-24 advantage on the rebounding glass, and turned in a 16-steal effort, led by Zakiya Minifee with five. Oakland picked up 18 assists on its 32 baskets, and committed only six fouls over the course of the game, while each OU player scored points in the winning effort.
“We just need to continue to get better as a team,” added Stephan. “We took a big step forward rebounding tonight and will continue to get better as we get more familiarity on the court which will be a key for us going forward.”
The Golden Grizzlies will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 22, hosting Providence at the O’rena. A 6:30 p.m. tip is scheduled.
Category: Campus Clips, Colleges / Other, Oakland University, Rochester College
