After a 10-21 season, coach Keisha Newell and the Oakland women’s basketball team are looking to flip the script and become Horizon League championship contenders.
Newell enters her second season leading the Golden Grizzlies after Oakland was eliminated by No. 3 seed Cleveland State in the 2025-26 Horizon League Tournament.
Newell took over the program with more than 10 years of collegiate coaching experience. At her previous stop, she earned IBCA Collegiate Coach of the Year honors twice and compiled a 69-22 record from 2023-25. She also developed 18 all-conference players during her coaching career. Now, Newell will look to build around sophomore Makenzie Luehring.
Luehring is looking to help Oakland take another step after a standout freshman season. She was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Year, earned first-team all-league honors and was selected to the all-freshman team. She scored 485 points in 987 minutes and recorded a season-high 39 points in the Horizon League Tournament.
Defensively, Oakland has room for improvement. The Golden Grizzlies were outscored by 7.5 points per game and allowed opponents to average 71.2 points. However, Oakland was strong on the glass, outrebounding opponents 36.1-34.9 per game.
Returners Lianna Baxter and Layla Gold lead the way defensively after combining for 321 rebounds in 32 games while averaging between 5.1 and 5.3 rebounds per game. Newell will look to rely on the experienced starters to provide consistency on the defensive end.
Transfer Berlynn Carlson, who joined Oakland from Mount St. Mary’s, averaged nearly seven rebounds per game as a freshman. Incoming senior Mallory Ramage transferred from Lewis after scoring more than 2,000 points in high school and more than 400 points during her collegiate career. Ramage also recorded six games with at least seven rebounds. The additions should help Oakland improve defensively and compete for more wins.