Gameday Central
Game Notes vs. Youngstown State

DETROIT (2/28/2014) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team will look to sustain its momentum from Wednesday's win over Valparaiso and move up in the Horizon League standings as the Titans host Youngstown State on Saturday, Mar. 1, at 1:00 p.m. The game is part of a Titan basketball doubleheader as the men will follow against first place Green Bay at 4:00 p.m.

The contest will also be Senior Day for Detroit as the women honor a trio of veterans prior to the start of the game in Megan Hatter, Abby McCollum and Senee Shearer.

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 moved to a share of eighth place in the Horizon League with its' 81-79 victory over the Crusaders, but at the moment, Valpo still owns the tiebreaker over UDM to host the 8-9 game due to its win over Oakland trumping the Titans' win over Milwaukee. The Titans could also move up as high as seventh by winning out and Milwaukee losing out with at least one more Valparaiso loss.

Senior Day might see one senior break a record as Shearer enters the game tied for first in school history with 217 career 3-pointers. She also has 1,180 points, one away from 15th place and 19 shy of 14th place in school history. Hatter has scored in double digits in two-straight games and is starting to play like she did in the beginning of the season before an injury forced her to miss seven games, while McCollum is a walk-on who has appeared in six games and is just the second known female in school history to play three varsity sports (soccer, lacrosse).

For information on tickets and how to purchase tickets to tomorrow's games, click here.

Following this weekend's action, Detroit will close out the regular season on the road as the red, white and blue travel to UIC on Thursday and first place Green Bay next Saturday.

DETROIT VS. YOUNGSTOWN STATE
Detroit leads the all-time series, 18-15, but Youngstown State has won two of the last three and three of the last five after a six-game UDM winning streak.

The Titans are 13-3 at home against the Penguins and have won the last five meetings in the Motor City as the last YSU win IN Calihan Hall was in 2008.

ABOUT THE PENGUINS
Youngstown State had won three in a row, but the Penguins fell to UIC, 73-65, on Thursday and are now 13-13 overall and 9-4 in the HL, good for second place.

YSU is sixth in the league in scoring at 69.9 ppg., but is third in defense giving up 70.3 and second in field-goal percentage defense (40.5%). The Penguins make their money from the outside ranking second in three-point field goal percentage (35.2%).

Heidi Schlegel leads the team and is top six in the conference in scoring (19.8) and rebounding (7.8), while Liz Hornberger is the only other YSU player in double figures at 10.1 ppg., and she also has a team-high 3.6 apg.

THANK YOU SENIORS
Detroit will honor three seniors prior to the game against Youngstown State in Megan Hatter, Abby McCollum and Senee Shearer.

McCollum, made a name for herself out at Titan field in soccer, but she wasn't done playing collegiate athletics and she joined the Titan women's basketball team in December.

She has gone on to appear in six games this season, making her basketball debut at Wright State on Jan. 5, grabbing a rebound and scoring a point in seven minutes of action. She will leave Detroit as just the second known female student-athlete to play three varsity sports as she was also on the women's lacrosse team as a freshman

Hatter was no stranger to Titan athletics when she arrived in 2010 as she followed her sister who donned the red, white and blue for four seasons. Known as the player who leaves it all on the floor, Hatter does all the little things that don't show up in the stat sheet. She is currently having her best season averaging a career-best 10.5 points and 6.0 rebounds with three double-doubles. She posted a career-high 26 points earlier this season against Madonna and had another 20-point outing against Chicago State.

She has played in 106 games with 66 career starts, and has seen this program rise from the bottom of the standings, to playing in two-straight postseason tournaments, helping Detroit win the WBI last season for its first postseason championship since 1981 and making the WNIT for the first time in school history in 2012.

Shearer will leave historic Calihan Hall after a great career that has seen her etch her name among some of the greats in Titan history. She is currently knocking on the doorstep of owning the Detroit career record in 3-pointers as she is tied for first with 217. She is also 16th in school history with 1,180 points, just one away from 15th place and 19 away from 14th.

Shearer is currently second in the Horizon League in scoring at 19.9 points per game, which would be the third highest single-season scoring mark in school history, and she is 12th in the nation with 3.12 three-point field goals per game.

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 on Feb. 22 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 four players in double figures their last time out, the Titans have now had four or more players score in double figures in five-straight games and six of the last seven.

In the last five games, UDM is averaging 79.0 points, while on the year, Detroit is fourth in the Horizon League in scoring at 71.7 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 with Green Bay's Tesha Buck for the most on the year.

Galloway continues to impress out on the court as she tallied her second-straight double-double and the third in the past four games with 21 points and 10 rebounds against Valparaiso. The 21 points tied her career high.

She won her third HL accolade after posting 16 points and a season and game-high 17 rebounds against Wright State last Saturday. 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 four-straight games and five total during Horizon League play. Galloway has also pulled down at least five rebounds in 10 of UDM's 13 conference games, including double digits on five occasions.

In her last four games, she is averaging a team-high 17.8 points and 11.0 rebounds per game and shooting 55.6% from the field (30-of-54).

In HL action, she is tallying 9.6 ppg., and 7.5 rpg., on 51.9% shooting (54-of-104).

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

In her career, Shearer has attempted 1023 shots and 649 of them have been from behind the arc. That means 63.4% of her career looks have been from downtown.

Her 251 three-point attempts on the season are currently third in the country, while her 83 triples are tied for 13th.

Shearer has also made 217 career 3-pointers, tied for first in school history with Michelle James (1998-02).

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 1,180 for Shearer - as she hit on more than 250 more field goals and she also dished out 439 career assists to Shearer's 150.

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 1,180 points and is just one point away from 15th place and 19 shy of 14th place.

Shearer is currently second in the Horizon League - and 37th in the nation - in scoring at 19.9 points per game, trailing only Wright State's Kim Demmings' 22.7.

She has already scored a career-high 518 points this season in 26 games, more than the 367 she totaled in 33 games as a sophomore.

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 2,166 of the 5,200 minutes on the court this season breaking down to 41.6%, 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 had three double-doubles in her last four games, which include tying her career high of 21 points twice and posting 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 eight 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.

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 eight-straight games in double figures 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 eight 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
15 pts., 5 rebs., 2 ast. vs. Valparaiso

In her last eight games, McCalister is averaging 16.3 ppg., - second on the team – with 5.3 rpg., and 3.8 apg., and shooting 44.1% (52-of-118) from the field and 26-of-33 (78.8%) 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 tallying double figures in scoring in her last two games, including finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds against Wright State for her third double-double of the season.

She came back to have 10 points with four rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win over Valparaiso.

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 6.0 rpg.

She also has 10 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, 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.

SHEARER NAMED TO 2014 NANCY LIEBERMAN AWARD WATCH LIST
Senior Senee Shearer was named to the 2014 Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The award recognizes the top point guard in women's NCAA Division I college basketball. Candidates exhibit the floor leadership, play-making and ball-handling skills of Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman.

Shearer was joined by 28 other players on the initial watch list, which includes the likes of Odyssey Sims of Baylor, Bria Hartley of Connecticut, Duke's Chelsea Gray, Amber Orrange of Stanford and Tennessee's Ariel Massengale. She is also the only player from the Horizon League as well as from a school in Michigan on the list.

AMONG THE NATION'S LEADERS
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 19.9 ppg., and 48th with 518 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.

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, Frederick-Childress was inserted into the starting line-up eight games ago and is averaging 8.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists in that span with a career highs of 14 points against Wright State, nine boards at Youngstown State and seven assists at Oakland.

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 four double-doubles, seven double figure scoring games and five contests with 10 or more rebounds.

She is currently leading all Horizon League freshmen in rebounding at 6.2 per game - 16th overall in the conference - and is now fourth on the Titans in scoring at 7.8 ppg.

Her double-doubles have come with tying her career high with 21 points and 10 rebounds against Wright State, 16 points and a career-best 17 rebounds against Wright State, 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, she now has scored in double figures in four of her last seven games and five of her last 10.

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 two blocks.

Against Milwaukee, she tallied 15 points, while adding seven rebounds.

In her last 10 games, Ristovski is averaging 9.9 ppg., 4.5 rpg., and 1.6 apg., and is shooting 48.98% (39-of-80) from the field and 15-of-40 (37.5%) 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 nearly a 3-1 (39-14) assist-to-turnover ratio on the year and is also hitting the glass at 4.1 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 14-straight games with a leg injury and is still day-to-day, while freshman Reyna Montgomery has missed the last four 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 60 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.

GETTING BACK TO FORM
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.

Her offense has once again picked up in the last 13 games with 10 double-digit performances and a career-high 24 points and nine rebounds against Green Bay.

Earlier in the year, she nearly had a triple-double against EMU with eight points, eight rebounds and a career-high nine assists.

Against Michigan, McCalister was in double figures with 14 points (7-9 FG) to go with six rebounds and four assists.

On the year, she is averaging 11.7 points - third on the team - a team-high 3.3 assists and 1.0 steals as well as 4.2 rebounds per game.

HL HIGH'S
UDM is fourth in the Horizon League and 93rd in the nation in scoring at 71.4 ppg.

The Titans are also fourth in rebounding at 39.7 per game.