Gameday Central
Game Notes

DETROIT (1/3/2014) --The New Year is here and that means conference play is on the horizon as the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team opens league play at Wright State on Sunday, Jan. 5. The Horizon League opener for both teams as well as the league will begin at Noon now - due to the winter storm forcast for the Midwest - at the Ervin J. Nutter Center in Dayton.

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 Day Central page also carries all the information on each opponent from who is leading the all-time series to who won the last game.

Detroit will be looking to end a three-game losing streak and get off to a strong start in the conference with three home HL games following the quick Sunday trip.

The game between Detroit and Wright State will feature the top two offenses in the league going at it as well as the top two individual scorers. Wright State leads the Horizon League with 80.8 points per game, led by junior Kim Demmings' conference-best 21.4 ppg., while Detroit is tallying 73.5 points behind senior Senee Shearer's 21.1 ppg.

Shearer broke a school record with her eighth-straight game with 20 or more points as she hit a career-best seven 3-pointers to finish with 26 points against Madonna. She is also leading the nation with 3.92 3-pointers per game and has 51 total on the year, 20 more than the next player in the conference.

Senior Megan Hatter tallied a career-high 26 points against the Crusaders her last time out and has been in double figures in six-straight games.

After the contest, the Titans return home for another three-game home stand starting with Cleveland State on Thursday, Jan. 9, at 7:00 p.m. Homecoming will be on Saturday, Jan. 11, against Oakland at 2:00 p.m., with in town on Jan. 16.

For more information on tickets, CLICK HERE or call the Detroit Ticket Office at (313) 993-1700.

DETROIT VS. WRIGHT STATE
Detroit has won four in a row, five of the last six and seven of the last 10 against Wright State and lead the all-time series, 25-18. UDM has also eliminated WSU from the conference championship in each of the last two seasons.

The Titans are 10-10 on the road in the series, splitting the last two at the Nutter Center.

ABOUT THE RAIDERS
Wright State comes into the game at 11-4, but the Raiders just had their four-game winning streak snapped on the road at Dayton, 112-85, this past Thursday.

WSU is 6-1 on the season and the game will also be its conference opener.

The Raiders are led in scoring by Kim Demmings, the Horizon League's leading scorer at 21.4 ppg. She is also second on the team and 16th in the HL in rebounding (6.3), and is averaging 2.2 assists per game.

Ivory James is tallying 17.0 ppg., while Tay'ler Mingo is putting in 13.9 points with a team-high 4.2 assists, third in the league.

Wright State - who was picked to finish second in the Horizon League Preseason Poll - is the highest scoring team in the conference at 80.8 points and is also in the top three in field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage.

HORIZON LEAGUE HISTORY
The Titans are 212-200 all-time in the Horizon League with the 212 victories the third most in league history trailing only Green Bay's 272 and former member Butler's 227.

UDM has won two regular season titles claiming the 1987 crown with a 10-2 record and the 1997 championship as a senior Autumn Rademacher led Detroit to a 14-2 mark. The Titans also finished that year winning the conference tournament and advancing to their only NCAA Tournament.

CONFERENCE OPENERS
Detroit is 14-13 all-time in HL openers and 13-14 in conference road openers.

This is also the second year in a row that the Titans will be featured in the Horizon League's opening game as UDM started conference action at Green Bay last season.

This is the fourth time in school history that Detroit has opened with Wright State and the third time it has been on the road. UDM opened the 2009-10 slate with a 68-47 win at home and then downed the Raiders on the road 58-49 in 1997-98 and 74-73 in 1994-95.

TOP 2 GOING AT IT
The Titans-Raiders' match-up will feature the top two scorers in the Horizon League in Wright State junior guard Kim Demmings (21.4) and Detroit senior Senee Shearer (21.2).

Demmings also leads the HL with 115 total field goals, while Shearer is second with 90.

LEADING THE COUNTRY
According to the latest NCAA stats, released last Friday, senior Senee Shearer leads the nation with 3.92 three-point field goals per game. She is also fifth in the HL in three-point field-goal percentage (36.4%).

Her 51 three-point field goals leads the country and are 20 more than the next player in the HL in WSU's Demmings (31) and Ivory James (31).

AMONG THE LEADERS
Detroit is currently second in the Horizon League and 84th in the nation in scoring at 73.5 ppg., behind only Wright State's 80.8.

UDM is also third in the HL in rebounding

(39.5) and fourth in assists per game (14.1), assists-to-turnover ratio (0.91), and three-point field goals per game (7.5).

20 X 8
Make it a school record for senior Senee Shearer as she posted her eighth-straight game with 20 points by tallying 26 against Madonna her last time out.

She passed Detroit Hall-of-Famer and all-time leading scorer Cassandra Pack, who did it in seven straight during the 1983-84 campaign.

She once again did it from long range as she hit a career-record seven 3-pointers en route to the 26 points against Madonna.

Below are her 20-point streaks
26 vs. Madonna (8-26 FG, 7-20 3FG, 3-7 FT)
23 vs. IPFW (7-19 FG, 4-9 3FG, 5-8 FT)
28 vs. EMU (10-24 FG, 6-13 3FG, 2-3 FT)
20 vs. Chicago State (8-20 FG, 4-13 3FG, 0-1 FT)
24 at Toledo (9-19 FG, 3-10 3FG, 3-6 FT)
22 vs. Georgia Southern (7-20 FG, 3-8 3FG, 5-6 FT)
21 vs. Rhode Island (7-18 FG, 5-10 3FG, 2-3 FT)
28 vs. Ball State (9-20 FG, 6-14 3FG, 4-4 FT)

Earlier in the year, she tallied a career-high 29 points at Western Michigan.

She now has 17 career games reaching the 20-point plateau and nine this season.

During this streak, she is averaging 24.0 ppg., shooting 39.2% (65-of-166 FG) and 39.2% from three (38-of-97) with 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

Shearer currently leads the team and second in the Horizon League (Kim Demmings, Wright State - 21.4 ppg) and 27th in the nation in scoring at 21.2 ppg.

SHEARER EYEING 1,000
The UDM 1,000-point club might soon be adding another member as senior Senee Shearer is just 63 points away from becoming the 19th player in school history with 1,000 career points. She enters the match-up with 937 career markers.

Shearer has already scored 275 points this season in 13 games, more than the 231 she totaled in 20 contests last year. She missed the first 14 games of her junior season recovering from a torn ACL that she suffered in the 2012 Horizon League Championship.

COACH RAD LOOKING FOR A RECORD
Head coach Autumn Rademacher is in her sixth year coaching her alma mater, where she has recorded 86 victories and is currently in third place in UDM history in wins, just seven away from the school record held by her coach in college Fred Procter (93, 1990-96) and five away from DeWayne Jones (91, 1983-90).

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 first five years, Detroit has posted three winning seasons, a 20-win campaign, five-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 - and a WBI Championship last season, the first postseason title since 1981.

MEGAN'S 26
No not her age, but her new career high as senior Megan Hatter put in 26 points against Madonna, her second 20-point game of the season as well as in her career. She tied her career best with eight field goals and eight free throws in the contest.

HAT'S OFF TO YOU
Senior Megan Hatter posted her first career double-double against Ball State on Nov. 23, and then tallied her second vs. Chicago State on Dec. 7 with 21 points and tying her career mark with 11 rebounds. Hatter was also a career-best 8-of-13 from the field.

Just three weeks ago, she recorded a then career-high 17 points and tied her career best with five assists in a winning effort over Georgia Southern. In that contest, she was 5-of-8 from the field with three 3-pointers and was also a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line with seven boards.

Against Ball State, she posted her first double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, and was actually scoreless with just two caroms in the first half of that game before erupting in the second period.

With a career-high 26 points and seven rebounds against Madonna her last time out, Hatter has now scored in double digits in six-straight games and seven of the last eight.

Hatter also now has 11 games this season - and 32 in her career - with five or more rebounds and is currently second on the squad and 14th in the HL in rebounding at 6.5 per night.

In her last six games, Hatter is averaging 17.8 ppg., and a team-best 7.8 rpg., shooting 47.9% from the field (34-of-71), 37.1% (13-of-35) from three and 76.5% at the line (26-of-34).

IT'S TAY TIME
Tayelor McCalister had a fine start to her sophomore year with career highs in nearly every category in her first four games, before an injury forced her out of five straight.

She returned to the hardwood against Chicago State on Dec. 7 and handed out five assists, while scoring seven points and tying her career best with four steals.

She then nearly had a triple-double against Eastern Michigan on Dec. 15 with eight points and a career-high eight rebounds and nine assists.

Against Michigan back on Nov. 16, McCalister was in double figures with a career-high 14 points (7-9 FG) to go with six rebounds and four assists.

On the year, she is averaging 8.8 points - fourth on the team - a team-high 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals as well as 3.8 rebounds per game.

TRY AND STOP ME
Talk about offensive firepower as junior Ellisha Crosby recorded a career-high 33 points against Eastern Michigan on Dec. 15. The 33 points is the second most by a HL player on the season, trailing only Wright State's Kim Demmings' 35 at Murray State.

It is also the most points by a Titan since Shareta Brown's 34 at EMU last season, and is tied for 18th in UDM history and the most by a first-year player, passing junior Dominique Dixon's 32 vs. Milwaukee on Jan. 2, 2011.

Crosby was a career-best 11-of-23 from the field, 1-of-3 from three and a career-high 10-of-13 at the line, netting 19 in the first half and 14 in the second playing all 40 minutes.

The first-year Titan has scored in double digits in every game she has played in this season and has topped 20 on three occasions, including in back-to-back games as she had a team-high 24 against Chicago State.

Crosby - who missed the Madonna game with an undisclosed injury - is currently fifth in the Horizon League in - and 112th in the nation - in scoring (17.5), fifth with a 41.3% field goal percentage, and 11th with 1.83 three-pointers per game.

AERIAL ASSULT
A three-point threat might not be sufficient enough to describe Senee Shearer's game.

In her career, Shearer has attempted 810 shots and 538 of them have been from behind the arc. That means 66.4% of her career looks have been from downtown. Her 140 three-point attempts on the year also leads the country, three ahead of Oregon's Katelyn Loper.

Shearer now has 185 career 3-pointers, fifth in school history and just three in back of Patrice Martin (1989-93) for fourth place and seven shy of third place in Lindsey Pasquinzo's (2002-06) 192.

She is on pace to take over the category lead trailing head coach Autumn Rademacher (1993-97) by 16 for second and school record-holder Michelle James (1998-02) by 32 (217).

HOLDING THEIR OWN
While the Titans feature a guard-oriented roster and offense, they have held their own in the paint being edged by just 10, 384-374, so far on the season.

GETTING TO 70
The Titans are 46-13 when they score 70 or more points- including 15-3 last year - as well as 15-4 when they score 80 or more under head coach Autumn Rademacher.

UDM has also eclipsed 90 seven times under Coach Rad, with a season-high 96 vs. Eastern Michigan on Dec. 15.