With Christmas right around the corner, it's the season of giving, and University of Detroit Mercy's women's basketball team recognized this and gave back to the community as every student-athlete on the roster read to students at GESU Elementary School prior to the holiday break.

“Reading to the children of GESU was a valuable experience for our student-athletes,” said Detroit assistant coach Emily Samuelson. “It gave them an opportunity to take a break from school and basketball and it was fun to see how excited the kids at the school were when they interacted with our players.

The Titans were in groups of three or four and read mainly Christmas books to classes ranging from kindergarten to sixth grade.

“Being able to give back was such a touching experience and it made me be a better person,” said freshman Demeisha Fambro (Detroit, MI/Crockett Tech). “I realize the role that I'm in, being a student-athlete at Detroit, that kids look up to us and it was nice to be able experience giving back to the community first hand.”

Detroit will return to action when the Titans host Colgate on Wednesday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m.