WARREN, Mich. – Back in the win column! Macomb Women's Basketball started strong and later used a 23-13 third quarter burst to earn an 81-66 home victory over the Raiders of Oakland Community College on Saturday (Jan. 27) at the Sports & Expo Center. The win brings the Monarchs even in conference play at 2-2 and pushes the team's overall record to 11-6.

The Raiders fell to 0-4 in the MCCAA East with the loss and 7-10 overall.

Up 20-15 after one quarter of play and 38-32 at the half, the Monarchs put the game away in the third quarter as the Blue & White outscored the Raiders by a 23-13 margin to secure the 15-point home win. The Monarchs were strong defensively from start-to-finish and went on to earn a 28-10 points off turnovers advantage after forcing 26 Raider miscues.

The Monarchs snagged 14 offensive rebounds on the day and turned those hard-earned extra possessions into a 15-5 edge in second chance points.

Reigning MCCAA Eastern Conference Player of the Week, Marissa Thomas (Toledo, Ohio/Perrysburg), stuffed the stat sheet to the tune of a game-high 25 points to accompany six assists, five rebounds and five steals. Tamia Tounsel (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) recorded her 10^th double-double of the campaign after dropping in 23 points and corralling 12 rebounds, while Kamryn Richards (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./Grosse Pointe South) checked in with 14 points, six assists and four steals.

The tandem of Thomas and Tounsel combined for 48 of the team's 81 points on the afternoon.

Enddiea Reese (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) was just shy of joining the double-digit scorers with nine points. The freshman forward added seven rebounds and a pair of steals to help lift the Monarchs to victory.

The Monarchs head to Detroit Wednesday (Jan. 31) to visit Wayne County Community College for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.