Gameday Central
Game notes vs. Eastern Michigan
 
DETROIT (12/28/2014) -- With the 2014 year coming to an end, the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team will look to ring up another road victory as the Titans meet Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti on Tuesday. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m., at the Convocation Center.
 
There will be live stats and live video – with a paid subscription - available for this contest.
 
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.
 
After winning four of five, Detroit has dropped two in a row and heads into its final non-conference game of the year at 5-7 overall. Detroit does have two road wins on the season with victories at IPFW and at Toledo.
 
Redshirt sophomore Rosanna Reynolds still leads the team and is fifth in the Horizon League in scoring at 15.0 points per game, while also ranking first in three-point field goals per game (2.7) and three-point field goal percentage (44.6%). Freshman Darianne Seward led Detroit with 11 points at Cincinnati and is second on the team in scoring at 12.5 ppg., while sophomore Haleigh Ristovski is the team's leading rebounder at 7.8 per night.
 
Eastern Michigan last played on Dec. 22 when the Eagles fell at Michigan, 81-52. EMU is 6-4 on the season and 4-0 at home.
 
This is the last non-conference game of the season for the red, white and blue as the Titans open Horizon League play next Wednesday, Jan. 7, against Milwaukee at home.
 
DETROIT VS. EASTERN MICHIGAN
The rivalry dates back to 1979 and a 72-63 Detroit win on the road. This is now the 26th career meeting between Detroit and Eastern Michigan and the Titans - winners of three of the last four - lead the all-time series, 14-9.
 
UDM is 7-4 on the road against EMU and has won three in a row in the Convocation Center.
 
ABOUT THE EAGLES
Eastern Michigan is coming off an 81-52 loss at Michigan prior to the Christmas break and is 6-4 on the season. EMU is 4-0 at home, which includes a 71-68 triumph over Horizon League-rival Cleveland State.
 
Three players are in double digits in scoring, led by Cha Sweeney's 14.3 points per game. She also tops the squad with 3.6 assists per game and is averaging 4.5 rebounds. Jamaica Bucknor is tallying 12.1 ppg., and a team-high 7.1 rebounds, while Janay Morton is posting 11.6 ppg., and 4.0 rpg., and 1.7 apg.
 
As a team, the Eagles are averaging 74.4 points and giving up 64.2.
 
AGAINST THE MAC
This is the fourth game this season that will see Detroit take on a team from the Mid-American Conference as UDM is 75-68 all-time against current teams from the MAC. 
 
Since head coach Autumn Rademacher took over the reins as the Titan leader in 2008, UDM is 11-13 against the league.
 
So far on the year versus the MAC, Detroit has dropped a tough road contest at Ohio, 60-57, before defeating Toledo on the road, 83-72. The Titans also lost a home contest against Western Michigan, 71-57.
 
AGAINST THE GREAT LAKES STATE
UDM is 107-73 all-time against teams from the Michigan, and 13-13 since the start of the 2010-11 season.
 
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 then, UDM is 11-of-42 in its last three 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 64.0 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 (.375) and fourth in three-point field-goal defense (.290).
 
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. 
 
ROSIE THE SCORER
Redshirt sophomore Rosanna Reynolds posted her ninth double-digit scoring effort on the year with 13 points against Western Michigan.
 
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.
 
On the year, she is currently leading the team and fifth in the HL with 15.0 ppg.
 
KEEPING THE BALL
The Titans are averaging just 13.6 turnovers per game - fourth in the Horizon League behind only Green Bay and Wright State's 13.4 and Cleveland State's 13.5.
 
Detroit has turned it over 10 or fewer times in three games this year, including a season low nine against St. Bonaventure and at Niagara.
 
UDM had just 10 turnovers its last time out at Cincinnati.
 
HEY COACH
Junior Lariah Stevens will see a couple of friendly faces on the Eastern Michigan sidelines from her time at St. Clair County Community College.
 
A former teammate is an Eagle in 6-4 junior center Rachel Kehoe, while her coach at St. Clair, Mike Groulx, is in his first year as an assistant at EMU.
 
Stevens has played in 11 games for Detroit and is averaging 2.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.
 
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 (2.75) and in three-point field goal percentage (44.6%), while standing 36th and 40th, 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 11 of the Titans' 12 games on the year - only at Cincinnati did she not have one - and 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 61 total field goals (53.9%) on the year are from three.
 
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 12 games, including four of the last seven 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 ninth in the Horizon League at 3.5 per game.
 
On the season, she is fourth on the team and 30th in the HL in scoring at 8.2 ppg., as well as leading the team and ranking seventh in the conference in rebounding at 7.8 per contest.
 
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 ninth game in double figures with a team-high 11 points her last time out at Cincinnati. She recently also tied her season high with 19 against Western Michigan.
 
She is currently second on the team in scoring and 12th in the Horizon League at 12.5 ppg., while topping the squad and sitting 15th in the league in field-goal percentage (41.1%).
 
Seward is also 10th in the HL in free throw percentage (72.6%) connecting on 45-of-62, the seventh most free throws and attempts among conference peers.
 
ELLICIOUS
Senior Ellisha Crosby 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, 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.
 
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. 
 
ROSTER NEWS
Senior Ellisha Crosby has missed the last two games and is day-to-day with an upper body injury suffered against Delaware State.
 
Junior Tayelor McCalister and redshirt freshman Tayla Gibb will also not suit up this season for Detroit.
 
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.
 
With the injury to senior Ellisha Crosby, the Titans have used two different starting line-ups in each of the last two games as freshman Nicole Urbanick into the starting five against Western Michigan and Chea Taylor got the call at Cincinnati.
 
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.
 
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 91st in the nation - with a 1.91 assist-to-turnover ratio (42 A, 22 TO). As a freshman, Ristovski recorded a 2.7 mark (47 A, 17 TO) last season.
 
Meanwhile, Reynolds has 32 assists and just 18 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.
 
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.
 
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 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.
 
Seward is third on the squad with 4.2 rpg., while Frederick-Childress is fourth on the team in rebounding at 3.8 rpg.