A year ago, University of Detroit Mercy head women's basketball coach Autumn Rademacher may have thought about having her team wear “Hello, My Name Is…” nametags at practice. However, with a year at Detroit under her belt, Rademacher knows her team like the back of her hand.

“At this time last year, we were still trying to figure out everyone's name,” said Rademacher. “This season is different because we have a real solid idea as a staff, who can do what and who has done what over the summer. Because of this we can dive right in to more advanced offenses and defenses instead of having to focus on knowing their names.”

There are not a lot of new names to remember on the 2009-10 squad, but there is a lot of youth. This year's team is comprised of one true senior, a junior college transfer, six sophomores, as well as three freshmen. In addition, there is a senior who is redshirting and a sophomore transfer who has to sit out this year due to the NCAA transfer rule.

“I think one of our strengths may be that we return a lot of players who have experience,” commented Rademacher. “Our sophomores this year were forced to play significant minutes their first year here, so that will certainly help them out this season.”

The one true upperclassman on this year's team is guard Brigid Mulroy. For the 2008-09 campaign, Mulroy started every contest for the Titans and ended the season second on the team with an average of 9.9 points per game. In addition, she finished her junior year third in the Horizon League in 3-point field goals made (1.7).

“Brigid is a consistent shooter and has worked extremely hard over the summer in the weight room to get quicker, faster and stronger,” commented Rademacher. “Her getting the opportunity last year to play significant minutes made her hungry for this season. Brigid really wants her senior year to be something that she can remember forever; she has been a great leader for us.”

Senior Heather Hatter played in 25 contests for Detroit and averaged 4.9 ppg and 2.5 rpg during the 2008-09 campaign. However, Hatter will claim a medical redshirt for this season due to a knee injury and will return to play for the Titans for the 2010-11 campaign.

Junior guard Tayler Langham transferred from Schoolcraft College where she earned NJCAA Division II All-America honors in 2009 to become only the third player in Schoolcraft history to receive this recognition. In addition, Langham helped lead Schoolcraft to the 2009 NJCAA Division II National Championship game.

“Tayler has a knack for scoring,” added Rademacher. “She is someone that can put points on the board, can run, is an excellent defender and is also someone that changes the tempo of the game.”

One of the six returning sophomores is guard Jalesa Jones, who made an appearance in every game in her first year with the Titans. Jones was second on the team with 84 assists on the year, led teammates or tied for the lead in assists on 13 occasions and closed out 2008-09 10th in the Horizon League with 2.7 apg.

“Jalesa is an outstanding point guard who played significant minutes for us last year,” said Rademacher. “She is a general on the floor because she gets people where they need to be. Jalesa has improved on her outside shot and people are going to have to honor her outside shot this year, which is great.”

Sophomore forward Yar Shayok only played in two games last year before sustaining a season-ending injury.

“Yar was injured last year, but she has come back and is 100 percent ready to go,” added Rademacher. “She is excelling in conditioning and is just in phenomenal shape. Yar is a force around the basket and I am looking for her to build upon her beginning of last year this season.”

Lauren Allen is another sophomore guard returning and she played in every game for the Titans and was in the starting line-up 15 times. Allen dished out a team third-best 67 assists on the year and led or tied for the lead in rebounds on five occasions and six times in assists. In addition, she finished 10th among conference peers with a 1.0 assist/turnover ratio.

“Lauren Allen did a tremendous job over the summer preparing herself for this upcoming season,” added Rademacher. “She is in great shape, has an excellent basketball IQ, and has greatly improved her outside shot. She is one of the best passers I have ever coached and I am looking forward to Lauren being a huge contributor for the Titans this year both offensively and defensively.”

Sophomore forward Talicia Washington saw action in every game for the Titans last year and was in the starting line-up 15 times. She finished the year fifth on the team with an average of 5.3 ppg and ended the year with 16 blocks, second on the team.

“Talicia is doing a great job,” commented Rademacher. “She is a post player who can shoot the outside shot and has also really developed her inside game. I am really looking forward to her building upon last year for us this season.”

Sierra Spaude is a sophomore who transferred from Wisconsin-La Crosse and sat out last season. Spaude is eligible to play for the Titans this year, but will have to push the start date back due to an injury.

“Sierra came back strong and was ready to go until she got hurt and now will not be back until December or January,” stated Rademacher. “She is a phenomenal athlete who can shoot the outside shot and can penetrate. Sierra can do it all and it is very unfortunate that she is delayed again.”

Freshman guard Demeisha Fambro is a graduate of Crockett Technical High School where she averaged 24.6 points per game her senior season to end the year second in the state of Michigan.

“Demeisha is a very dynamic, exciting perimeter athlete that can play the 1-3 spots,” said Rademacher. “She has excellent ball handling skills, is a tremendous passer, has great court awareness and can score. I am really looking forward to seeing her come in and make an immediate impact with our team.”

Another freshman on this year's roster is forward Cherridy Thornton, who is a Detroit native and a graduate of Frank Cody Senior High School. She was named MVP for both the Westside PSL and the Comets in 2009 and was also a Ms. PSL nominee her senior year.

“Cherridy is a very confident forward that can shoot and has great moves inside,” added Rademacher. “She is fearless, which I like.”

Freshman forward Kassandra Hooten is a graduate of Moorhead High School in Minnesota and in 2009 she was named to the Minnesota All-Star Team.

“(Kassie) is another athlete who can go both inside and outside,” commented Rademacher. “She does a great job on the boards, she can run and we are very excited to have her here at Detroit.”

Sophomore guard Dominique Dixon is a transfer from West Virginia and is also a Detroit native as she graduated from Renaissance High School.

“Dominique is a very strong guard and am very excited about her for next year,” stated Rademacher. “She will make our players better this year being on the scout team and having us go against her. Dominique will have the year to observe, get to know us and our system and be ready to go everyday.”

All-in-all the team is full of youth, but most of that youth does have experience, which includes beating then 23rd-ranked Georgia at Calihan Hall in November of last season by a score of 70-66.

“I think being able to upset Georgia was a huge confidence builder for our team,” commented Rademacher. “We got a taste of success last year and I think that the players have it in them to compete against the best.”

This year's schedule for the Titans is comprised of six opponents that saw action in postseason play last year and 16 games on the schedule will be played at Calihan Hall.

Two of those 16 contests are against Michigan State and Michigan, which is the first time since the 2001-02 season in which Detroit has hosted both Big Ten teams.

“We have a very competitive non-conference schedule and I think it will be fun,” said Rademacher. “They enjoyed playing against top 50 teams in the nation and they sure are going to get that opportunity again this year.”

Detroit will begin its season at Oakland (Nov. 13), which will mark the first meeting between these two teams since 2003, and the Grizzlies are one of the Titans' three opponents that participated in the 2009 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). Two days later will be the Titans' home opener against the Spartans, who advanced to the round of 16 of the 2009 NCAA Championship, and UDM will next host Canisius (Nov. 24), another WNIT participant.

“We have done ourselves no favors since every opponent on our schedule is going to be tough,” commented Rademacher. “At the same time, I do not want to crush their confidence at all if we come up short at any point, but these games will only help us with conference play, which is the most important thing.”

It will be familiar faces for some on Dec. 19 when the Titans host Michigan as Rademacher served as an assistant under the Wolverines' current head coach, Kevin Borseth, from 2004-07 when he was at the helm at Green Bay.

“He (Kevin) has been a tremendous mentor and I have learned a lot from him throughout the years,” added Rademacher. “It is the perfect scenario at this point because we have nothing to lose, which is outstanding.”

Three days after facing U of M, the Titans will have a rematch in Athens with Georgia, another opponent that competed in the 2009 NCAA Championship.

UDM will open up Horizon League play at home on Jan. 3 against Wright State, and also wraps up the conference regular season with the same opponent on Mar. 6. Cleveland State, which finished third in the league in 2009, will make an appearance at Calihan Hall on Jan. 30. UDM will then host Milwaukee on Feb. 6 and Green Bay two days later. UWGB was the 2009 Horizon League regular season champion, the tournament champion and also competed in the 2009 NCAA Championship.

The final conference regular season weekend at home for the Titans will be Butler (Feb. 18), which participated in the 2009 WNIT after finishing second in the league last year, and Valparaiso the following Saturday.

“There is a lot of talent in the Horizon League, but experience-wise I am not so sure,” stated Rademacher. “I think that there are a lot of teams that lost a lot of upperclassmen, so there will be rebuilding, but those teams are rebuilding with very good individual type players. I think it is going to be the team that is able to put it all together and play as a team by March that wins.”

Maybe at the end of the year, everyone on the team will be wearing “Hello, My Name Is 'Horizon League Champion'” nametags.