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SAN ANTONIO – The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team opened the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic with a hard fought, 64-55, setback to Utah on Friday evening at the UTSA Convocation Center.

Freshman Shareta Brown (Grand Blanc, MI/Grand Blanc) led Detroit with 14 points, despite going just 2-of-5 from the field. Brown was 10-of-11 from the charity stripe, while pulling down six rebounds in limited time due to foul trouble.

Junior Chanahl Putnam (Almont, MI/Almont) was in double digits for the fifth-straight game with 10 points, while corralling a season-high five rebounds. Junior Yar Shayok (Ottawa, ON/Hillcrest) totaled eight points, four boards and two blocks, while sophomore Megan Hatter (Howell, MI/Howell) posted five points and three caroms.

It was close right from the very start, but Utah did have the lead for a majority of the first half. Detroit was down by four in the first period, 25-21, when the Titans went out in front. Hatter connected on her first three of the season and on the next possession, Shayok put in a layup to give UDM the advantage. After a bucket by Utah, Shayok hit a jumper and the red, white and blue went into the half up by one, 28-27.

Utah came out and scored the first five in the second half, but the Titans answered with five straight of their own as Putnam nailed a 3-pointer and then got inside for a layup to put UDM back on top, 33-32, at the 15:14 mark.

From there, both defenses were strong, but the Utes were able to go on a 17-4 run over the next seven minutes to take a 49-37 lead. Utah would extend it to as many as 13, 53-40, before the Titans began chipping away at the deficit.

With less than four minutes remaining, the Titans went on a 6-0 spurt to trim the Utah lead to seven, 53-46. Senior Lauren Allen (Rochester Hills, MI/Rochester) started the charge by getting her own offensive rebound and laying it in. Shayok then came up with a block and finished the transition opportunity with a basket and that was followed by sophomore Senee Shearer's (Detroit, MI/Pershing) bucket with 2:33 to go.

Detroit would not get any closer as the Titans saw some shots just rim out, while Utah hit its free throws down the stretch to close it out.

Freshman Brie Wilcox (London ON/Sir Wilfrid Laurier) had a season-high five rebounds, while Allen finished with two points, two assists and a season-best six boards. Junior Demeisha Fambro (Detroit, MI/Crockett Tech) also contributed with seven points off the bench.

The Titans will wrap up the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic tomorrow with their fifth game in nine days as Detroit faces the UTSA Roadrunners, with game time scheduled for 6:00 p.m. (EST). There will be a free live stats feed for that contest as well as a live web stream, available for a small fee.

Game Notes:
This was just the third career meeting between Detroit and a current member of the Pac-12…The last time UDM played a game in the state of Texas was on Dec. 22, 1997, a 56-53 win over then Southwest Texas (now Texas State)…All 10 Titans that played in the game scored at least one point…Putnam hit a three for the fifth consecutive game… After grabbing 18 rebounds the other night against Bowling Green, Brown had just one rebound in the first half and fouled out of the game with two minutes left…Freshman Julianna Glanz (St. John's, MI/Waverly) made her first appearance of the season, grabbing an offensive rebound and then connecting on the put back for her lone bucket of the contest…The Titans enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday right on the Riverwalk.