Gameday Central
Game Notes vs. Valparaiso

DETROIT (2/25/2014) -- In what could end up as a contest that decides who will host an opening round playoff game, the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team will look to even the season series as the Titans prepare to the battle the Valparaiso Crusaders on Wednesday, Feb. 26. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m., on Dick Vitale Court in historic Calihan Hall.

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 trails Valparaiso by one game in the Horizon League standings for eighth place, which would host the ninth place team in the opening round of the HL Championship. UDM still has a chance to move all the way to seventh and get a bye in that opening round and into the quarterfinals.

The Titans played another high scoring game their last time out as six players scored in double figures in the loss to Wright State. It was the first time since 2006 that UDM had six players reach double figures in a game.

Freshman Megan Galloway had another great game with 16 points and a career-high 17 rebounds as she was named the HL Freshman of the Week for the second-straight week and third time this season, tied for the most in the HL. Senior Senee Shearer led the way with 17 points and is now just six 3-pointers away from owning the school record.

UDM will close out the regular season home slate on Saturday as Detroit hosts Youngstown State in game one of a Titan doubleheader at 1:00 p.m., with the men facing first place Green Bay at 4:00 p.m. To purchase tickets for any Titan game or for more ticket information, click here.

DETROIT VS. VALPARAISO
The Titans have dropped their last two against Valparaiso - both on the road - but Detroit still leads the all-time series, 11-7.

UDM is 6-3 versus the Crusaders at home and has won the last five over Valpo in the Motor City.

ABOUT THE CRUSADERS
Valparaiso stopped a six-game losing streak when the Crusaders downed Oakland, 84-70, on Saturday to move to 4-21, 2-10 in the Horizon League.

Charae Richardson leads the team in scoring at 11.4 points per game, while ranking ninth in the HL with 3.5 assists per game.

Jessi Wiedemann is averaging 10.8 ppg., and Sharon Karungi is tallying 10.4 ppg., and 7.3 rpg., ninth in the conference. Liz Horton is the last Valpo player in double figures in scoring at 10.0 ppg.

The Crusaders are last in the Horizon League in scoring at 63.2 ppg., while standing sixth in points allowed at 75.8 ppg.

LAST TIME VS. VALPO
It was an off night shooting for the Titans and Valparaiso took advantage as the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team fell, 85-44, at the Athletics Recreation Center.

Senior Senee Shearer led Detroit with 10 points, while adding five rebounds. Freshman Megan Galloway had five points and a team-high seven rebounds and sophomore DaVonna Bradford added eight points.

Valparaiso shot 51.7% (31-of-60) with 10 of those field goals from behind the arc. The Crusaders also forced 25 turnovers with 18 steals.

Detroit jumped out to an early 7-5 lead as Shearer had five points in the first three minutes of play. Valpo then scored six-straight points to take the lead and led, 13-9 when junior Brie Wilcox found freshman Reyna Montgomery cutting to the hole for a basket.

From that point on, a scoring drought by the red, white and blue occurred and the Crusaders were able to secure the lead for the rest of the way.

UDM's offense was more efficient in the second half totaling 31 points, but Valparaiso stayed hot to pick up the win.

Freshman Haleigh Ristovski ended with seven points, three rebounds, an assist, steal and block. Wilcox tallied five points and three boards and freshman Minisha Frederick-Childress had two points, four rebounds and a team-high three assists.

SNAKE EYES
Who to defend on the court against the Titans is starting to become a big question for opponents after Detroit had six players score in double figures against Wright State its last time out. It was the first time this season and the first time since 2006 that UDM had six players in double figures.

Senior Senee Shearer led the way with 17 points, while freshman Megan Galloway had 16. Senior Megan Hatter tallied 11 points, sophomore Tayelor McCalister netted 13 and freshmen Minisha Frederick-Childress and Haleigh Ristovski chipped in with 14 and 11, respectively.

BALANCED OFFENSE
With the six players in double figures their last time out, the Titans have now had four or more players score in double figures in four-straight games and five of the last six.

In the last four games, UDM is averaging 78.5 points per game, while on the year, Detroit is fourth in the Horizon League in scoring at 71.4 ppg.

MAKING A PITCH FOR HL FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
For the second-straight week and the third time this season, a Titan freshman was honored by the Horizon League as rookie Megan Galloway once again was tabbed the HL Freshman Of The Week this past Monday.

The award also marks the third-straight week Detroit has received a weekly accolade as Galloway's back-to-back award followed freshman Minisha Frederick-Childress winning it back on Feb. 10.

Her three HL freshman accolades are also tied for the most this year with Green Bay's Tesha Buck.

Galloway continues to impress out on the court as she tallied her second double-double in the last three games and the third of her rookie campaign with 16 points and a season and game-high 17 rebounds against Wright State. She was 7-of-17 from the field and even handed out a season-best five assists.

The 17 boards was the most by a Titan since Yar Shayok - the second leading rebounder in Titan history - had 17 against the College of Charleston in the second round of the WBI last season.

Galloway has now scored in double digits in three-straight games and four total during Horizon League play. Galloway has also pulled down at least five rebounds in nine of UDM's 12 conference games, including double digits on four occasions.

In her last three games, she is averaging a team-high 16.7 points and 11.3 rebounds per game and shooting 50% from the field (23-of-46).

In HL action, she is tallying 8.7 ppg., and 7.3 rpg., and nearly hitting 50% from the field connecting on 47-of-96 (49.0%).

SENEE JUST 5 AWAY
A three-point threat might not be sufficient enough to describe Senee Shearer's game.

In her career, Shearer has attempted 1010 shots and 642 of them have been from behind the arc. That means 63.5% of her career looks have been from downtown.

Her 244 three-point attempts on the season is currently fifth in the country, while her 78 triples are tied for 18th.

Shearer has also made 212 career 3-pointers, second in school history and just five away from tying school record-holder Michelle James (1998-02), who had 217.

She recently passed Coach Rademacher in that race as she had 201 in 568 attempts in 117 career games.

Coach Rademacher does have her beat in total points with 1,686 points – compared to 1,157 for Shearer - as she hit on more than 250 more field goals and she also dished out 439 career assists to Shearer's 147.

AMONG THE NATION'S LEADERS
Senior Senee Shearer is currently 12th in the nation with 3.12 three-point field goals per game.

She is also 37th in the country averaging 19.8 ppg., and 48th with 495 total points.

If she were to finish the season averaging 20 or more points, she would be just the third Titan to average 20 in a game in a season behind Cassandra Pack's 22.2 in 1986-87 and Shareta Brown's 21.0 last season.

SHEARER NETS 1,000
The UDM 1,000-point club added another member as Senee Shearer became the 19th player to reach the mark against UIC on Jan. 16.

Shearer now has 1,157 points and is just 24 points away from 15th place.

Shearer is currently second in the Horizon League - and 37th in the nation - in scoring at 19.8 points per game, trailing only Wright State's Kim Demmings' 22.8.

She has already scored a career-high 495 points this season in 25 games, more than the 367 she totaled in 33 games as a sophomore.

FEELING PINK
If you are coming to historic Calihan Hall this month to see the red, white and blue, then you will see a different color as the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team will sport pink uniforms for its home games during the month of February.

The team also took part of the Play 4Kay initiative on Saturday, Feb. 8, in its home game against Milwaukee.

YOUTH SERVED
To say that Detroit is young this year is easily stated by the amount of minutes that the Titan freshmen have played compared to the rest of the Horizon League.

Coming into the game against Valparaiso, UDM true freshmen have played 2,078 of the 5,000 minutes on the court this season breaking down to 41.5%, the most in the Horizon League.

FRESHMEN STEPPING UP
Freshmen usually have their ups and downs, but in a season that has seen the Titans use five of their six freshmen, a few have contributed some big games recently.

Haleigh Ristovski nailed five 3-pointers en route to 15 points at Youngstown State and then matched that against Milwaukee before setting a new career high with 19 at Cleveland State.

Megan Galloway has two double-doubles in her last three games with a career-high 21 points and 10 rebounds at Oakland and 16 points with a career-best 17 rebounds and five assists against Wright State, while Reyna Montgomery tied her season high for the third time with 11 markers at Milwaukee and against Oakland.

Minisha Frederick-Childress was inserted into the starting line-up seven games ago and has had a few career performances with a season-high 14 points against the Raiders, 11 points and six assists against the Penguins, 10 points and a season-high nine boards versus the Panthers and 10 points with four caroms and a career-best seven assists at Oakland.

FREDERICK-CHILDRESS HONORED
After nearly posting a double-double and helping the Titans win their first conference game, freshman Minisha Frederick-Childress was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week on Feb. 10.

Frederick-Childress tallied 10 points, a career-high nine rebounds and four assists as UDM upended Milwaukee, 80-68, for its first HL win of the season last Saturday.

Originally from Flint, but she played her last three years of high school ball in North Mankato, Minn., Frederick-Childress was inserted into the starting line-up seven games ago and is averaging 9.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists in that span with a career highs of 14 points her last time out against Wright State, nine boards at Youngstown State and seven assists at Oakland.

TAY'S OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
She was held scoreless at Valparaiso on Jan. 23 but since that time, Titan sophomore Tayelor McCalister has been an offensive force with seven-straight games in double figures and posting a career-high 24 points – along with a career-best nine rebounds - against Horizon League leader Green Bay.

Below is a list of her last seven games:
17 pts., 8 rebs., 2 ast. at Milwaukee
14 pts., 5 rebs., 5 ast. at Youngstown State
24 pts., 9 rebs., 4 ast. vs. Green Bay
12 pts., 4 rebs., 5 ast. vs. Milwaukee
19 pts., 5 rebs., 5 ast. at Oakland
16 pts., 2 rebs., 2 ast at Cleveland State
13 pts., 4 rebs., 5 ast. vs. Wright State

In her last seven games, McCalister is averaging 16.4 ppg., - second on the team – with 5.3 rpg., 4.0 apg., and shooting 45.5% (45-of-99) from the field and 25-of-32 (78.1%) at the free throw line.

HAT'S OFF TO YOU
Senior Megan Hatter recently came back from a leg injury that saw her miss seven games and the veteran finally looked like she was back to playing shape her last time out, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds against Wright State for her third double-double of the season.

She now has 14 games this season - and 34 in her career - with five or more rebounds and is currently leading the squad in rebounding at 6.1 rpg.

She also has nine games in double figures in scoring and is third on the team at 10.5 ppg.

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.

Back on Nov. 30, she recorded a then career-high 17 points and tied her career mark with five assists in a win 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 on Nov. 23, 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.

A GALLOWAY-IN EFFORT
Freshman Megan Galloway has rebounded nicely from an ankle injury earlier in the year.

Galloway has now been named the HL Freshman Of The Week three times this season and has three double-doubles, six double-figure scoring games and four contests with 10 or more rebounds.

She is currently leading all Horizon League freshmen in rebounding at 6.0 per game - 16th overall in the conference - and is now fourth on the Titans in scoring at 7.2 ppg.

Her double-doubles have come with 16 points and a career-high 17 rebounds against Wright State, a career-best 21 points with 10 boards at Oakland and 13 points with 10 rebounds at home versus Cleveland State.

Her game against WSU was enough for her third HL weekly award, while Galloway was a force inside for the Titans in a pair of road games at Oakland and at Cleveland State, averaging 17.0 ppg., 8.5 rpg., while shooting 55.1% (16-of-29) to win her second award on Feb. 17.

At the FAU Thanksgiving Classic, she tallied 11.5 points and 6.5 rebounds, while shooting 9-of-14 (64.3%) from the field in netting 16 points with seven rebounds against Georgia Southern and seven points and six rebounds with two assists versus Rhode Island, earning her first HL Freshman of the Week accolade.

ALL GAME FOR RISTOVSKI
Freshman Haleigh Ristovski is showing her all-around talent as she gets more comfortable in the collegiate game. With her 11 markers against Wright State her last time out, she now has scored in double figures in four of her last six games and five of her last nine.

She had a career game with a season and game-high 19 points at Cleveland State, where she was 8-of-10 from the field with eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal.

At Youngstown State, the rookie connected on five 3-pointers en route to 15 points. Ristovski came into the game just 5-of-24 from three, but ended the contest 5-of-8, while adding five rebounds and a season-best two blocks playing all 40 minutes.

Against Milwaukee, she tallied 15 points, while adding seven rebounds and versus Green Bay, Ristovski put together a great game with eight points, seven rebounds and tying her career best with five assists.

In her last nine games, Ristovski is averaging 10.7 ppg., 4.8 rpg., and 1.8 apg., and is shooting 49.4% (38-of-77) from the field and 14-of-38 (36.8%) from behind the arc.

PROTECTING THE BALL
Titan rookie Haleigh Ristovski is doing a good job of protecting the ball, something that a lot of rookies have trouble with.

She currently has a 3-1 (39-13) assist-to-turnover ratio on the year and is also doing a good job hitting the glass at 4.2 rebounds per game, with a season-high 10 caroms at Wright State.

ON THE DL
Sophomore Rosanna Reynolds will miss the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury early in the game at Western Michigan.

Reynolds was selected to the Horizon League All-Newcomer Team last year after starting all 34 games and averaging a team-high 35.3 minutes per game, tallying 7.8 points – fifth on the team – along with 3.3 rebounds, and a team-high 4.0 assists per game (135).

Junior Ellisha Crosby has missed 13-straight games with a leg injury and is still day-to-day, while freshman Reyna Montgomery has missed the last three games as well as an earlier game against UIC.

Other Titans that have missed games this season include five game apiece from sophomore Tayelor McCalister and freshman Minisha Frederick-Childress.

Freshman Megan Galloway missed the Eastern Michigan game and senior Megan Hatter just returned after missing seven-straight contests.

All told, the injured Titans have missed a total of 57 games on the season.

MIX & MATCH
Due to the injuries Detroit has racked up, the Titans have used 18 different starting line-ups.

No Titan will start every game this season due to all the injuries and Detroit has seen 12 of its 13 players on the roster start at least one contest, with the lone exception in senior walk-on Abby McCollum who was just officially added to the roster in mid-December.