Game Day Central

2012-13 Titan Basketball Prospectus

DETROIT (10/27/2012) -- Nearly four weeks of practice has gone by and now, the Detroit women's basketball team will get on the court against a team in a different uniform as UDM will play its first of two home exhibition games on Monday when Lawrence Tech visits Calihan Hall.

Game time is set for 7:00 p.m., on Dick Vitale Court. Admission will be FREE to all fans, and there will also be a Halloween costume contest for all those that dress up. The Titans will have a team autograph session following the game and some treats will be distributed to all kids in attendance (while supplies last).

The Titans officially opened practice on Oct. 1 and have been busy both on and off the court. Besides practice, the team has participated in a pair of media days, team picture day, the Titan Tip-Off, some team bonding activities and a few community service projects.

Detroit was picked to finish second in the Horizon League Preseason Poll – with two first-place votes – while sophomore Shareta Brown garnered First Team All-League honors.

The red, white and blue posted a 20-14 record last year, including a 14-4 mark in conference play for second place. The Titans began the year at 1-8 before winning 19 of their next 23 games, reaching the Horizon League Championship game. UDM fell in the title contest at Green Bay, but did earn its first-ever berth into the WNIT, the first postseason action for the Detroit since it made the 1997 NCAA Tournament.

There will be live stats available for the game for all those that can't make it out by clicking here.

About Lawrence Tech
Monday's game will mark the opening of women's basketball at Lawrence Tech, a NAIA program residing just a short drive away in Southfield. The Blue Devils are in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC).

Lawrence Tech will feature an 11-man roster with six true freshmen. Five transfers will also be on the roster, coming from such programs as Northern Michigan, Michigan-Dearborn, Lansing Community College and Oakland Community College.

Mary Pinkowski is the first head coach in LT history as she heads up the program after five seasons at the helm of the University of Michigan – Dearborn. In 2010, Pinkowski was named the WHAC Champions of Character Coach of the Year. She also coached at Webber International University in Florida for two seasons and was named the Florida Sun Conference Coach of the Year in 2006.

Preseason Action
The Titans are 4-1 in the preseason under head coach Autumn Rademacher. This will be the first time Detroit has played two exhibition games in a season since the 2008-09 campaign as UDM has opted to play one closed scrimmage in each of the last three seasons.

What The Polls Are Saying
The Detroit women's basketball team was picked to finish second in the Horizon League Preseason polls, voted on by the League's coaches, sports information directors and media members.

The Titans totaled 210 points – including two first-place votes – trailing only Green Bay's 241 points and 25 first-place selections. Wright State was picked to finish third with 191 points, Loyola fourth at 151 and Cleveland State fifth tallying 123. Rounding out the poll was UIC (90), Milwaukee (85), Youngstown State (77) and Valparaiso (46).

Last season, UDM was picked seventh, but ended up 14-4 in the conference and made the Horizon League Championship game.

Honors Galore
Shareta Brown was tabbed First Team All-League when the Horizon League released its preseason All-Conference teams at the HL Media Day in Chicago on Oct. 8.

Brown – a first team All-HL selection as a freshman, the first by a Titan in school history – was joined on the first team by Kim Demmings of Wright State, Cleveland State's Shalonda Winton, Green Bay's Adrian Ritchie and Brandi Brown of Youngstown State. Loyola's Simone Law and Patrice King, Lydia Bauer of Green Bay, Valparaiso's Tabitha Gerardot and Milwaukee's Sami Tucker comprise the second team.

Brown was also nearly the HL Preseason Player of the Year, but that honor went to Demmings by just one point in the voting. It is not the first time those two have been neck-and-neck as they shared the League's Co-Newcomer of the Year award last season.

A dominant low-post player, Brown broke Detroit's single season record for total points with 611 and led the Horizon League – and was fifth in the NCAA - in field goal percentage (55.9). She also finished fourth in the HL in scoring (18.0) and eighth in rebounding (8.8). She tallied 14 20-point games and a pair of 30-point performances and was fifth in the Horizon League with 12 double-doubles.

During UDM's run to the Horizon League title contest, she averaged 23.7 points and 6.7 rebounds in the three tournament games, including 30 points and eight rebounds against Wright State in the semifinals and a 22-point, nine-rebound performance in the championship versus Green Bay.

It was not the only preseason accolade she has received as she was named to the CollegeSportsMadness.com's All-High Major Third Team as well as to the website's Horizon League Preseason First Team.

Also receiving preseason honors was junior guard Senee Shearer as she was tabbed a Second Team All-Horizon League by CollegeSportsMadness.com. Shearer was one of the top scorers in the league in the last 20 games and ended the year second on the team in scoring at 11.1 points per game. The long-range shooter was third in the conference in three-point field goals (75) and third in the HL, and 59th in NCAA, in three-point field goals per game (2.27). Her 75 3-pointers on the season ranked second all-time on the Titan single-season list.

Rademacher Back On The Sidelines
Head coach Autumn Rademacher is in her fifth season at her alma mater and is coming off one of the best years in recent history for the Titans. She was awarded a three-year contract extension following the Titans' 20-win season and WNIT appearance during the 2011-12 campaign.

During her time as head coach, she has completely turned around a program from the bottom of the Horizon League standings to a Horizon League Championship contender and postseason program.

Just this past season, the CollegeSportsMadness.com 2012 HL Coach of the Year and the 2010 Horizon League Coach of the Year guided the Titans to their first 20-win season since 1997 and their first postseason appearance (WNIT) since that same year. Their 14 conference wins also tied a school record with the 14 she had back in 2010. Detroit also made its sixth trip to the Horizon League title game and the first in Rademacher's tenure.

During her time on the sidelines, the Titans have defeated three ranked teams – they only have five wins over ranked programs in their history – and one of those came last season as Detroit went into the Kress Events Center and ended #9/9 Green Bay's perfect season with a 70-58 victory in mid-February. It was also the first-ever win on the road against a ranked opponent in Titan history and the first win over a top-10 team since Dec. 5, 1981, when Detroit edged North Carolina State, 60-59.

UP NEXT
UDM's second and final exhibition game will be next Monday, Nov. 5, when the Titans host Marygrove.  The game is part of a community service weekend that will see both programs come together to help clean up the mile stretch between the two schools on McNichols Road. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. at Calihan Hall and will have live stats available on the GAMEDAY CENTRAL page.