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Sports

Coach Francis Reloaded in Preparation for Tonight's Home Opener

OU women (1-1) host Penn State at 6:30 tonight.

Flexibility and depth may be the most used adjectives to describe this season of Oakland University's women's basketball team.

The Golden Grizzlies finished second in The Summit League last season. Heading into the home opener tonight versus the Nittany Lions, the Golden Grizzlies (1-1) are coming off a split of road games, losing at Detroit Mercy last Friday by three and defeating Illinois-Chicago Monday 69-58. 

At Oakland, head coach Beckie Francis typically reloads rather than rebuilds. And while there is some uncertainty heading into the season as to who the leading scorers, top rebounders and team leaders will be, there is no lack of confidence.

"That's really the fun part of coaching is having to answer all the questions," Francis said. "I guess I consider that as the exciting part (of the early season)."

Another exciting part this season for Francis is the various lineup combinations that she can use. Bethany Watterworth (13.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg) is the leading returning scorer. Brittany Carnago is the only Oakland player taller than six feet and will man the post. But elsewhere there are a number of athletic, talented players who can handle the ball and play multiple positions.

Watterworth led the way in Oakland's win Monday over UIC with 26 points and five rebounds in what turned out to be a physical game with plenty of fouls.

Yet when possible, the Golden Grizzlies will likely play an up-tempo style this season.

"That's usually what we like to play and that's the style that we have been successful with," Francis said. "It's exciting and it won't take long until we have a number of answers."

Other players like Sharise Calhoun (8.8 ppg last year), Victoria Lipscomb, Anna Patritto and others will also be counted on for major minutes. That should allow the Golden Grizzlies to spread the court and use many of their guards and forwards interchangeably. Francis expects to use anywhere from two guards to four guards on the court at one time.

Patritto finished with 10 points against UIC and nailed a couple of clutch free throws with the Golden Grizzlies clinging to a four-point lead with just over a minute remaining on Monday.

The team's focus this year is one feature that has impressed Francis all through the off-season and during the Oakland's two exhibition victories over Western Ontario and Ferris State. While the focus is clearly on the winning a conference title, Francis has been struck by how high her squad's overall goals are as well.

"The girls have been talking about how they want to have a strong RPI (Rating Percentage Index) rating and we know we can have that with a tough non-conference schedule," Francis said. "I've never had a team with those kind of goals before. They really want to take care of business in the non-conference."

Besides the game versus Penn State tonight, Oakland later hosts another Big Ten foe in Illinois. The Golden Grizzlies played both teams to close losses on the road a year ago. It is unusual for a mid-major program to be able to draw such teams for home games but Francis professes to have a secret for being able to exchange a home-and-road series with such big-name schools.

"That's always what we have done," she said with a laugh. "I tell (opposing coaches) that we'll go a one-for-one."

The Summit League race should be a close one with South Dakota State still a power and Oral Roberts possibly having the best one-two scoring punch in the league with Kevi Luper (24.4 ppg, 4.5 spg) and Jaci Bigham (17.1 ppg). Oakland should be in the thick of the race, Francis said, with teams like North Dakota State, Missouri-Kansas City and IPFW also in the race.

"I think we'll be there in the end," Francis said. "I like our team and this has the look of a wide open (conference) race."

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