GAMEDAY CENTRAL       Game Notes



DETROIT (12/20/12) -- An eventful day is planned in Calihan Hall on Saturday as the Titan women's basketball team hosts its Annual Alumni Day, while also squaring off against Madonna. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m., on Dick Vitale Court.

The game will be broadcast live on the Horizon League Network with Dan York calling all of the action. There will also be live stats available for the contest. Titan fans can follow every UDM game this season through the women's basketball GAMEDAY CENTRAL page located on the Titans Athletic Website that will keep fans one click away from all the action. This page will feature links for live stats (audio and video when applicable) as well as links for all the latest info while also making it easy to find the Titans on social media and to purchase photos and game tickets.

The game will feature an alumni recognition at halftime as well as a special tribute to the late Titan great Lisa Blackburn at the end of the contest. Those alumni who have not yet RSVP can do so by reaching head coach Autumn Rademacher at rademaau@udmercy.edu.

Detroit has won two in a row and four of its last five games and comes into the weekend contest at 6-4 overall. UDM is averaging 83.0 ppg., in its last five games, which includes a 101-50 victory over Lourdes, a 97-57 win against Western Michigan and an 88-58 thrashing at IPFW on Tuesday. On the season, five of the red, white and blue's six wins have been by double figures, and it has also won all three at home this year to extend its home-winning streak to nine in a row.

Madonna comes into the game with a 6-4 record and will have a week off since falling to NAIA Division II #5 Davenport, 81-54. The Crusaders have played one Division I opponent on the season falling at Bowling Green, 68-57.

Madonna has three players in double figures in scoring with Kaylee McGrath leading the team at 13.2 ppg., as well as rebounding (7.8) and field-goal percentage (56.3). Shantelle Herring is tallying 11.3 ppg., while Rachel Melcher is at 10.1 ppg.

Following the game, Detroit will have more than a week off before heading south to battle the Bulls of South Florida on Dec. 31.

THE DETROIT-MADONNA SERIES

The Titans and Crusaders have met just once during the regular season, with Detroit posting an 83-17 victory on Feb. 22, 1978, the first year of Titan basketball.

In that game, Detroit held Madonna to 7-of-48 shooting and just six points in the second half, outrebounding Madonna 70-39 and forcing 39 turnovers.  Yvette Harris tallied a double-double for Detroit with 23 points and 19 rebounds, while Coretta Daniels had 12 points, 15 boards and six assists.

Last season, UDM downed Madonna in an exhibition game, 93-46, with Shareta Brown leading the way with 23 points and 13 caroms.

WELCOME BACK ALUMNI

Today's game will see Detroit welcome back some of the great Titan players of all time as it is the Annual Women's Basketball Alumni Day.

All Titan alumni will be honored at the half with a classic game of knock out planned to help celebrate the day.

After the game, a special recognition for the late Titan great Lisa Blackburn will take place and a post-game reception.

REMEMBERING LISA BLACKBURN

Titan great Lisa Blackburn passed away last May and today will mark a special recognition in her honor.

A four-year letterwinner for the Titans, Blackburn stands fifth all-time in school history with 1,440 points and also ranks third in the Titan record book in rebounds (846), seventh in steals (215) and 10th in assists (294).

She was named All-State as a junior after earning honorable mention All-State status in her first two years. She was also selected to the Region V All-Tournament squad as a junior and was nominated for the United Foundation's “Sportswomen of the Year” in the fall of 1980.

During her four years, the Titans posted four 20-win seasons - including a school record 27-4 mark during her freshman campaign of 1978-79 - and compiled a 95-26 record.

In one of the greatest Titan performances of all time, she notched a triple double with 12 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists as U-D defeated No. 3 Kansas, 52-46, in 1981, the first-ever Detroit win over a ranked program.

Blackburn was part of three-straight teams that won the state title from 1979-81, and finished runner-up in the regionals in 1979 and 1980. The 1980 Titan squad also became the first to be invited to a national tournament as they earned a bid to the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women's (AIAW) National Tournament.  The Titans were also nationally ranked during the 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons.

She went on to earn her degree in communications from the University of Detroit in 1982, and later served as a high school coach at Pershing HS coaching among others, current Titan Senee Shearer and former Titan Jalesa Jones.

COACH RAD ONE WIN SHY OF .500

A win on Saturday over Madonna would even head coach Autumn Rademacher's career record to 69-69, the first time it has been at .500 while at Detroit.

It is not like Coach Rademacher took over a top of the line program as UDM was coming off back-to-back last-place finishes and just 11 total wins from 2006-08.

In her time, Detroit has posted two winning seasons, a 20-win campaign, four-straight years with a conference tournament victory and a trip to the WNIT in 2012, the first postseason action for UDM since the 1997 NCAA Tournament.

BROWN LEADING THE NATION

Sophomore Shareta Brown regained her lead among the nation's leaders when the latest NCAA stats were released this past Monday.

Brown - and this was before her 34 points at IPFW - topped Division I in scoring at 25.1 points per game and comes into the contest averaging 26.0 ppg.

She was also sixth in field-goal percentage connecting on 61.9% and tied for 57th in rebounding pulling down 9.8 boards per game.

The only Titan to ever lead the nation in a statistical category was Brigid Mulroy back in 2010 as she was first in three-point field-goal percentage (50.5%).

#WHAT CAN BROWN DO 4 YOU

Sophomore Shareta Brown's offensive game has her among the nation's leaders as she is currently leading the country in scoring at 26.0 points per game.

Brown just broke the Titan school record with 43 points in a game and added her fourth 30-point game of the season -and the sixth of her career - with 34 points at IPFW. Her six 30-point games are tied with Cassandra Pack (1983-87) for the most in school history.

Her 43-point outburst is tied with IPFW's Amanda Hyde for the highest in Division I.

In fact, with her 35 at home against Western Michigan and 34 at Eastern Michigan and at IPFW this season, she now has four of the top 20 scoring efforts in NCAA Division I this year.

No other player in Division I has more than one game with 34 or more points on the year.

COUNTDOWN TO 1000

Senior Yar Shayok is now 16 points away from becoming the 17th player in school history to reach 1,000-career points.

Shayok is currently 17th in school history with 984 points as she just passed former teammate Sandi Brown (983) with 14 markers in her last outing at IPFW.

The fifth-year senior – who redshirted after playing just two games as a freshman due to a foot injury – is averaging 7.9 points this season and 9.1 points per game in her career.

She tallied 7.2 ppg, last season and had her best year to date as a redshirt freshman recording 11.8 ppg.

A RUDE HOST

UDM is 3-0 at home this season and has won nine-straight games on Dick Vitale Court dating back to last year.

The nine-straight wins in the Motor City are the most since it won 10-straight during the 1996-97 campaign, and that was during head coach Autumn Rademacher's senior year at UDM.

The school record is 17 consecutive victories, which was rolled up during the 1985-86 and 1986-87 seasons.

In Detroit's history, the Titans have compiled six home winning streaks of 11 games or more.

With the UDM men's team having won 14 in a row at home, Calihan Hall has not seen a loss since Jan. 14, 2012, when the women fell to #14/12 Green Bay, 68-59.

MORE ON CALIHAN MAGIC

Over a longer stretch of time, the Titans have posted a 15-3 ledger in their last 18 home games dating back to the 2010-11 campaign.

Detroit was 11-3 at home last season and is now 30-11 in their last 41 home games after defeating WMU at home on Nov. 28.

UDM is also 38-22 in Calihan Hall since head coach Autumn Rademacher returned to her alma mater in 2008.

In 35 years of play in the Motor City, the Titans have enjoyed a 266-143 (.634) home court record.

80 OR MORE

With 101 points against Lourdes and 88 at IPFW, Detroit has posted 88 or more points in back-to-back games for the first time since 2000 when the Titans netted 94 at Bowling Green and 99 versus Miami (Ohio).

If UDM was to reach 80 points against Madonna, it would be the first time the red, white and blue have notched three-straight 80-point games since 2002 when it had 83 versus UIC, 90 at IPFW and 84 at Butler.

GETTING TO 70

The Titans are 31-6 when they score 70 or more points - and 9-1 when they score 80 or more - under head coach Autumn Rademacher.

DOMINATING THE BOARDS ALREADY

Detroit has outrebounded its opponents in all 10 games and currently owns a + 8.9 rebounding margin, good for first in the Horizon League and 25th in the nation.

UDM dominated the boards against #6/7 Penn State with a 46-31 advantage. UDM also completely owned the boards versus Canisius (44-28), WMU (49-36), at Ohio (48-37) and against Lourdes (42-25).

Last season, Detroit won the battle of the boards in 23 of its 34 games, including 11 times by a double-digit margin.

NOW THAT'S A BIG WIN

UDM's 51-point win over Lourdes on Dec. 10 was the most since the Titans rolled past Wayne State by 70, 115-45, on Jan. 2, 1986, which is still the school record for the largest margin of victory.

With Detroit following that win with a 30-point, 88-58, thrashing at IPFW, the Titans have now posted back-to-back 30-point victories for the first time since recording three straight in 1997.

In that year, Detroit defeated Wight State 99-60 and then bounced the Raiders (86-47) and Milwaukee (98-63) in the HL Tournament.

OFFENSE WINS GAMES, DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Not to be lost in the recent offensive games Detroit has posted has been the play of the Titan defense.

UDM has held an opponent to under 60 points in seven of its 10 games, with the only two teams to score more in regulation a pair of Big Ten programs in Michigan (70) and Penn State (80), while Ball State had 73 in overtime, but just 57 in the first 40 minutes of action.

The Titans have also forced opponents to shoot under 40% eight times, including two dominant defensive efforts against WMU and Lourdes.

Detroit held the Broncos to just 27.5% shooting as WMU was 19-of-69 from the field and 3-of-14 from behind the arc, and forced 19 turnovers - 15 in the first half.

Against Lourdes, the Titans held the Gray Wolves to 17-of-56 from the field and forced a season-high 22 turnovers.

WE OWN THE PAINT

With its two highly-skilled post players in senior Yar Shayok and sophomore Shareta Brown, and its' guards ability to get inside, Detroit is currently outscoring its opponents, 338-190, in the paint on the year.

During the 2011-12 campaign, Detroit owned a 1042-638 advantage in points in the paint.

FAMBRO STEPPING UP

Senior Demeisha Fambro posted her career-best fifth-straight game in double figures with 15 at IPFW. It was also her sixth double figure scoring outing of the season as she tied a career-high with four 3-pointers.

Since being inserted into the starting line-up against Western Michigan on Nov. 28, she is averaging 15.2 ppg., 5.4 rpg., and shooting 46.7% from the field and 42.9% from behind the arc in five games.

Prior to that, she was averaging 8.0 ppg., 4.2 rpg., and hitting 35.5%.

She started the streak with a season-high 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while tying her career-best with nine rebounds, against WMU, and followed that with 17 at Ohio - where she had a personal 9-0 run that got Detroit back in front and sparked a 22-3 spurt. She also added 15 points at Ball State and 11 against Lourdes.

On the year, Fambro is averaging 11.6 ppg. - second on the team - and 4.8 rpg., fourth on the squad.

SENIOR PRIDE

After coming off the bench for most of last season - and making the most of it by earning the HL Sixth Player of the Year - senior Yar Shayok has transitioned back to the starting line-up in great form.

She is currently first on the team and third in the Horizon League in rebounding (10.1), which includes five double-digit efforts.

She grabbed a season-high 15 against Lourdes, 14 versus Canisius, 13 at IPFW, and had 10-rebound performances against #6/7 Penn State and Western Michigan

The 13 caroms at IPFW marked the 42nd time in her career that she has pulled down at least 10 boards in a game.

COACH RADEMACHER APPROACHING THIRD PLACE

Head coach Autumn Rademacher has already accomplished a tremendous amount as a player and coach at Detroit and she is nearing another milestone.

She currently has 68 career victories and is just two behind Sue Kreszewski (1977-80) for third place in school history.

Fred Procter (1990-96) leads UDM with 93 wins, while DeWayne Jones (1983-90) is at 91.

HITTING THE FREE ONES

The Titans were just 52.4% from the free throw line in the first three games, but have turned it around since then hitting 103 of their last 147 attempts (70.1%) in the last seven contests.

UDM was very effective from the charity stripe going 18-of-22 (81.8%) against Penn State, while making 20-of-24 (83.3%) versus WMU and 21-of-28 (75.0%) in the win over Lourdes.

The Titan's 21 free throws against Lourdes were the most since they hit 29-of-35 at Green Bay in last year's win over the nationally-ranked Phoenix.