Gameday Central
Game notes vs. Cincinnati
 
DETROIT (12/22/2014) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team will look to get back on track before its Christmas break as the Titans travel to the University of Cincinnati on Tuesday, Dec. 23. The opening tip is slated for Noon at Fifth Third Arena.
 
Fans can follow every Detroit 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 Gameday 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 try to even its record at 6-6 with a win. The Titans are coming off a 71-57 setback at home against Western Michigan on Saturday. Freshman Darianne Seward led UDM by tying her season high with 19 points, while redshirt sophomore Rosanna Reynolds was in double figures again netting 13.
 
Reynolds leads the team and is fifth in the Horizon League in scoring at 16.0 points per game, while also leading the conference with 3.0 three-point field goals per game. Seward is second on the team and 12th in the HL in scoring at 12.6 ppg. – which also ranks second among freshman in the conference – while sophomore Haleigh Ristovski leads the team and is fifth in the league with 8.3 rebounds per game.
 
Cincinnati ended an eight-game losing streak with a 67-59 victory over Delaware at home on Saturday. The game was tied at 55-all, but the Bearcats outscored the Blue Hens, 12-4, in the last six minutes. Cincinnati's other win on the year was a 73-57 triumph at home over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
 
Following the game, Detroit will have a week off before facing Eastern Michigan on the road on Dec. 30.
 
DETROIT VS. CINCINNATI
This will be the 10th career meeting between Detroit and Cincinnati as the Bearcats lead the all-time series, 7-2.
 
The Bearcats have won four in a row over the Titans and are 6-0 all-time at home against the red, white and blue.
 
The last time these teams met was on Nov. 21, 2009, as Cincinnati came away with a 65-58 win at home. In that game, UDM graduate assistant coach Shareese (Ulis) McBrayer scored 16 points and had six assists as a member of UC.
 
ABOUT THE BEARCATS
Cincinnati is 2-8 on the season, but just ended an eight-game slide with a 67-59 victory over Delaware on Saturday. The Bearcats other win was a 73-67 triumph against Arkansas Pine Bluff.
 
Ana Owens leads the team in scoring at 13.7 points per game and also tops the squad with 3.5 assists per contest. Marley Hill is posting a team-high 10.2 rebounds per game to go with 13.0 ppg., and Jasmine Whitfield is averaging 12.5 ppg.
 
As a team, Cincinnati is tallying 59.7 points and giving up 67.5
 
RECORD-SETTING WIN NO. 94  FOR COACH RAD
Head coach Autumn Rademacher '97 accomplished something that many coaches don't even get a chance to attempt as she became the all-time wins leader at her alma mater with victory No. 94 on Dec. 18 against Delaware State.
 
UDM used an early run in dominating the Hornets, 74-52, for the record-breaking win, surpassing her coach in college Fred Procter (1990-96).
 
Coach Rademacher did it inside Calihan Hall where as a player she scored over 1,600 points and helped lead the Titans to their only NCAA bid as a senior in 1997.
Her first coaching win was also on the very same floor as she guided UDM to a 70-66 upset victory over No. 23 Georgia on Nov. 22, 2008.
 
It is not like Coach Rademacher took over a top of the line program as Detroit was coming off back-to-back last-place finishes and just 11 total wins from 2006-08. In her first six years, Detroit has recorded three winning seasons, a pair of 20-win campaigns, five years with a conference tournament victory, a trip to the WNIT in 2012 - the first postseason action for UDM since 1997 - and the school's first postseason title since 1981 when the Titans won the WBI in 2013. 
 
AGAINST THE AAC
The Titans are 8-17 all-time against current members of the American Athletic Conference. Detroit has actually played nine of the 11 AAC schools with only Connecticut and Tulsa not appearing in a match-up.
 
UDM has played Cincinnati the most out of the conference with nine meetings followed by a 3-1 record in four games against Temple.
 
BOMBS AWAYS IN RECORD FASHION
The Titans connected on 15, 3-pointers at Toledo on Dec. 14, breaking the school mark of 13 at Butler on Jan. 30, 1999.
 
UDM finished the game 15-for-32 from behind the arc, including 12-of-21 in the first half alone.
 
It was the third time this season that Detroit has made 10 or more threes in a contest (11 at IPFW, 10 vs. Madonna), while the 32 three-point attempts were a season high and just one away from the school record of 33 UDM had against Ball State last season.
 
Since that game, UDM is 8 for its last 28 in its last two games from three-point territory.
 
BIG TIME DEFENSE
The Titans have played some tough defense to start the 2014-15 season, holding teams to just 63.5 points per game, down from last season's 80.5 ppg.
 
UDM has held four opponents to 60 or less on the season and twice to under 50. Detroit is currently third in the Horizon League in field-goal percentage defense (.370) and fourth in three-point field-goal defense (.289).
 
Detroit had one of its best defensive games in school history in defeating Marygrove, 88-46, in the home opener on Nov. 16.
 
The 46 points allowed were the fewest since Detroit downed Youngstown State at home, 62-48, during the 2012-13 campaign.
 
The 25.0% (16-of-64) shooting by Marygrove was the lowest UDM has held a team since Milwaukee's 22.8% on Mar. 2, 2013.
 
Detroit held IPFW to just 29.7% shooting, including 28.5% (12-of-42) in the second half and overtime and 16.7% (2-of-12) in the extra session alone, while limiting Madonna to 29.4% (15-of-51). The 15 made field goals by Madonna were the fewest by an opponent since Youngstown State had just 15 in that 62-48 win.
 
Against Toledo, the Titans held an offensive Rockets team to 32.5% (26-of-80) overall and 27.5% (11-of-40) from three, while Delaware State shot just 37.7 percent (21-of-56) and 1-of-15 from distance. 
 
A TRIPLE THREAT
Redshirt sophomore Rosanna Reynolds has become one of the deadliest long-range shooters in the Horizon League.
 
She is currently first in the HL in three-point field goals per game (3.0) and second in three-point field goal percentage (47.1%), while standing eighth and 20th, respectively, in the nation in those two categories.
 
Reynolds has twice nailed seven 3-pointers in a game - one away from the school record of eight that Daphne Smith (8-of-11) had versus Butler on Jan. 10, 1987.
She had seven treys (7-of-10) in a 33-point outburst at IPFW on Dec. 2 and also had seven (7-of-12) in a 26-point effort at Toledo.
 
Reynolds has sank at least one 3-pointer in every game this season and now has an HL-best 33 triples on the year, a new career high passing the 25 she had as a freshman in 34 games in 2012-13.
 
In fact, 33 of her 59 total field goals (55.9%) on the year are from three.
 
ROSIE THE SCORER
Redshirt sophomore Rosanna Reynolds posted her ninth double-digit scoring effort on the year with 13 points against Western Michigan her last time out.
 
She already has three 20+ point games capitalized by her career-high 33 points at IPFW on Dec. 2, where she was a career-best 11-of-18 from the field with her seven 3-pointers. She became just the 18th Titan in school history to score 30 or more in a game, with the 33 points the most since teammate Ellisha Crosby had 33 against EMU last season.
 
Reynolds had a game-high 26 points at Toledo on Dec. 14 going 8-of-15 from the field with seven more treys and also netted a game-high with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting versus Delaware State on Dec. 18.
 
In fact, the only two games she has not been in double figures were nine-point outings against Madonna and Southeast Missouri.
 
On the year, she is currently leading the team and fifth in the HL with 16.0 ppg.
 
GETTING TO 70
The Titans are 54-19 when they score 70 or more points as well as 20-5 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 against Eastern Michigan last year.
 
MY 5
After using 19 different starting line-ups last year - in 30 games - due to injuries, the Titans used the same starting five in its first 10 games until their last time out as an injury to senior Ellisha Crosby moved freshman Nicole Urbanick into the starting five.
 
ALL-AROUND GAME
Sophomore Haleigh Ristovski continues to show her full basketball skills this season on both the offensive and defensive end of the floor.
 
She might not be the typical frontcourt player, but she has grabbed at least eight rebounds in eight of UDM's 11 games, including four of the last six with 10 or more.
She also has a team-high three double-doubles on the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds at Toledo, 13 points and 11 rebounds at IPFW and a career-best 20 points and 12 boards against Madonna.
 
Her game against Madonna also saw her post nearly a triple-double as she handed out a career-high six assists.
 
She has recorded at least five assists five times this year and is leading the team and ranks seventh in the Horizon League at 3.7 per game.
 
On the season, she is fourth on the team and 23rd in the HL in scoring at 8.9 ppg., as well as leading the team and ranking fifth in the conference in rebounding at 8.3 per contest.
 
GOOD DECISIONS
Redshirt sophomore Rosanna Reynolds and sophomore Haleigh Ristovski are both among the most trustworthy ball handlers in the Horizon League.
 
Ristovski is currently second in the Horizon League - and 66th in the nation - with a 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio (41 A, 22 TO). As a freshman, Ristovski recorded a 2.7 mark (47 A, 17 TO) last season.
 
Meanwhile, Reynolds has 28 assists and just 16 turnovers on the year (1.8), and came into this game just a few assists shy of qualifying for fourth in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
LITTLE D BRINGS BIG O
Freshman Darianne Seward might have been making her first collegiate start in her first career game at Michigan, but you would never know by the way the rookie played.
 
The 5-4 guard from Ohio ended the day with a game-high 19 points - 17 in the first half - along with three rebounds and three assists.
 
The 19 points in a collegiate debut was the most by a Titan true freshman since the 2011-12 season and the most by a Titan true freshman guard since Titan Hall-Of-Famer and the school's all-time leading scorer Cassandra Pack netted 23 at home against Bowling Green to open the 1983-84 campaign.
 
Seward has continued to be a force on offense recording her eighth game in double figures by tying her season-high with 19 against Western Michigan her last time out.
She is currently second on the team in scoring and 12th in the Horizon League at 12.6 ppg., while topping the squad and sitting 15th in the league in field-goal percentage (43.1%).
 
Seward is also eighth in the HL in free throw percentage (74.1%) connecting on 43-of-58, the sixth most free throws and attempts among conference peers.
 
ELLICIOUS
Senior Ellisha Crosby has found her offensive rhythm with her fourth-straight game - and sixth on the year - in double figures as she tallied 12 in just 16 minutes versus Delaware State. She also handed out a career-high six assists in that contest.
 
Against Toledo last Sunday, she posted 24 points for her fourth career 20+ point effort.
 
She also now has 18 double-digit scoring games in her 22 career Division I contests. 

She was tabbed the Glass City Classic Tournament MVP after tallying 18.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and shooting 46.7 percent from the field in the two games against Southeast Missouri and Toledo.
 
Crosby started the weekend event with her first double-double of the year and the sixth of her career with 13 points and a season-high 10 rebounds against the Redhawks.
 
In her Titan career, Crosby is tallying 14.6 ppg., including 11.5 ppg., this year.
 
NO "MINNIE ME" HERE
Sophomore Minisha Frederick-Childress might stand just 5-4, but she can crash the boards witnessed by her three game this season with seven rebounds; including back-to-back against Southeast Missouri and at Toledo last weekend at the Glass City Classic. She also had seven caroms at IPFW.
 
In the close setback to Southeast Missouri, she also recorded a season-best five assists, the most since her career high of seven at Oakland last year.
 
The seven boards are just two away from her career high of nine set against Milwaukee as a freshman.
 
THE 5-4 CLUB
Sophomore Minisha Frederick-Childress and freshman Darianne Seward are both 5-4, but both guards have done their share of hitting the glass.
 
Frederick-Childress is third on the team in rebounding at 4.1 rpg., while Seward is fourth on the squad with 4.0 rpg.
 
WINNING STAT?
Detroit is 4-0 on the year when sophomore Haleigh Ristovski scores in double figures.
 
HELPING OUR CAUSE
With a strong group of guards, you would expect that Detroit would be able to take care of the ball and create a lot of assists, and the Titans have done just that.
 
Detroit is fourth in the Horizon League in assists at 14.4 per game as well as fifth in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.0). The red, white and blue is one of just five teams in the league to have more assists than turnovers on the year and has committed a season-low nine turnovers twice this year.
 
The Titans also finished with 22 assists against Marygrove in their home opener on Nov. 16 and just had 19 against Delaware State their last time out.
 
URBANICK FINDING HER STROKE
Freshman Nicole Urbanick netted a season-high 12 points against Madonna. It was the third time this season she has been in double figures with 10 against Marygrove and 11 versus St. Bonaventure.
 
On the season, she is averaging 6.2 points per game - fifth on the team.
 
DEPTH WORKING THE BOARDS
Freshman Brianna Cohen had a season high seven points and eight rebounds against Madonna, while freshman Chea Taylor had six points and eight boards at IPFW.
 
Against Western Michigan their last time out, Cohen had six points and four rebounds and Taylor added three points and five rebounds.