Game Notes vs. Wright State

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DETROIT -- The Detroit women's basketball team returns to the hardwood on Saturday as UDM makes the short trip to Dayton, Ohio, for a match-up with the Wright State Raiders. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m., at the WSU Nutter Center.

Detroit (8-7, 2-2 HL) is coming off a tough 72-66 setback to Butler last Saturday, a game that saw Detroit cut a 12-point second-half deficit to just one in the last few minutes before the Bulldogs pulled away for the win. Sophomore Demeisha Fambro came off the bench to score a team-high 16 points in that game, while sophomore Dominique Dixon had 15 and junior Jalesa Jones added 12.

Wright State comes into the game at 9-6, 2-2 in conference play. The Raiders defeated Valparaiso, 90-67, last Saturday and used the long ball to do it as WSU connected on a school record 13 3-pointers.

Fans can catch all the action on the Horizon League Network as well as with a live stats feed through CSTV's gametracker. A live game chat will also take place on the Titan BlogSpot (the link will be available on Saturday morning). All three links are located on top of the page.

DETROIT VS. WRIGHT STATE
The Titans have won two in a row over the Raiders and lead the overall series, 20-15. The two-game winning streak came at the heels of a six-game slide.

Detroit is 9-8 in Dayton after taking last year's contest, 58-54.

ABOUT THE RAIDERS
Wright State is coming off a 90-67 victory over Valparaiso last Saturday and heads into the match-up at 9-6, 2-2 in the Horizon League.

The Raiders feature the conference's top scorer in senior LaShawna Thomas, who is averaging 18.1 ppg. The guard can also create for her teammates as she tops the league in assists as well at 6.4 per game, while collecting 5.3 rebounds per contest.

Along with the top scorer and playmaker, WSU also has the top rebounder in Molly Fox, who is averaging 9.8 rebounds and 14.8 points per game.

Two other Raiders are in double digits in scoring as Maria Bennett is tallying 10.8, while Courtney Boyd is adding 10.2 points a game.

Wright State is third in the league in scoring averaging 67.3 points per contest.

SHAYOK TOP 55 IN THE COUNTRY
Sophomore forward Yar Shayok has her name among the top rebounders in the country according to the latest statistics released by the NCAA on Jan. 9.

Shayok's 9.3 rebounds per game is currently second in the HL and 52nd in the country.

The Titans also do not hurt themselves as they are 57th in the nation in turnovers (16.1) and 71st in fouls (15.9).

DETROIT TAKING IT AWAY
Detroit has forced at least 15 turnovers in 10 of its 15 games on the year, including five contests with 20+ turnovers.

The Titans forced a season-high 23 turnovers against Butler its last time out. Detroit also forced Ball State into 22 turnovers (turning those opportunities into 30 points) as well as against Marygrove (29 points of turnovers). Against No. 25/22 Michigan State, UDM created 21 MSU turnovers, while forcing Milwaukee into 20, including 14 in the first half, and No. 21 Green Bay into 16 (21 points off turnovers).

On the year, the Titans have caused 250 turnovers, an average of 16.6 per game.

Detroit has also been coming away with a plethora of steals lately as it has tallied 10+ steals in five-straight games after not reaching that mark in its first 10 games.

UDM had a season-high 15 steals against Marygrove, the most Detroit has come away with since a 16-steal effort at Wright State on Jan. 31, 2009, while also taking 12 away at No. 21 Green bay, 11 at Milwaukee and 10 against Valparaiso and Butler for an average of 11.6 per game.

MURPHY MAKING AN IMPACT
Junior Britney Murphy made her Titan debut against Marygrove on Dec. 27, ending the contest with 10 points, while tying her career high with five rebounds and setting a new collegiate best with four steals. Since then, she tallied a season-high 12 points against Valparaiso and nine apiece at Green Bay and against Butler.

In five games as a Titan, she is averaging 8.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game.

Murphy transferred to Detroit from St. John's out of the BIG EAST, where she played in 39 games, with five starts, in her career as a member of the Red Storm.

She averaged 2.7 points, 1.6 assists and 1.3 assists in 34 games as a freshman and 2.4 points and 1.4 assists in five games as a sophomore before transferring to UDM last January.

CHERR I “THREE”
Sophomore Cherridy Thornton connected on a career-best five 3-pointers against Valparaiso her last time out, and is 12-for-22 (54%) from behind the arc in her last four games.

THORNTON FINDING HER TOUCH
Sophomore Cherridy Thornton has netted double digits in scoring in five of her last six games. She missed the Titans last game against Butler due to injury.

In her last game against Valparaiso, she netted 18 points - 17 in the first half - and that was after tying her career-high with 20 points at Milwaukee.

During this streak, she had a game-high 13 against Marygrove, a team-high 16 points at IPFW and 11 points at Michigan.

In her last six games, Thornton is averaging 13.3 ppg., shooting 27-of-54 (50%) from the field and 15-of-34 (44%) from three.

She is also rebounding the ball tallying a career-high nine boards against Marygrove, while averaging 4.7 rebounds per game during this span.

SPREADING IT AROUND
Detroit has had seven different leading scorers in its 15 games this year, with sophomore's Dominique Dixon, Demeisha Fambro and Cherridy Thornton leading the way with three apiece.

VALUE THE BALL
Detroit had just 10 turnovers - a season-low - against Butler its last time out and that was after turning it over just 12 times against Valparaiso.