Gameday Central
Game Notes vs. Valparaiso
 
DETROIT (2/27/2015) -- The 2014-15 season is heading into its final seven days of play and for the Titans, that's means hitting the road as the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team will play its final three games away from the Motor City starting with Valparaiso on Saturday.
 
Game time is set for 2:35 p.m. (EST) at the Athletics Recreation Center on the campus of Valparaiso in a game that can be seen on ESPN3.
 
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 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.
 
The Titans come into this game at 10-16 overall and 5-8 in the Horizon League, where they are tied for fifth place with UIC, but currently own the tiebreaker over the Flames for the fifth seed in the Horizon League Championship. UDM can still move to a three seed and have a home game in the quarterfinals, but it can also fall to ninth place. A win by the Titans over Valpo would assure Detroit that it would not finish in last, where it was picked in the preseason poll.
 
Detroit is coming off a 74-59 setback to second-place Wright State in a game that saw the Titans play without their second leading scorer in Ellisha Crosby, who missed the game due to illness. In her place, junior Lariah Stevens stepped up and recorded a season-high 17 points off the bench.
 
Redshirt sophomore Rosanna Reynolds still leads the team and is seven in the Horizon League in scoring at 15.8 ppg., while freshman Darianne Seward is averaging 12.1 ppg., good for 15th in the HL.
 
Valparaiso is 6-20 on the year and 2-11 in the conference as the Crusaders are tying to stay out of last place for the second-straight season. Valpo has lost four of its last five with its lone win in that span against Milwaukee. A pair of freshman lead the team in scoring with Dani Franklin tallying 12.9 ppg., and Jasmyn Walker posting 9.7 ppg.
 
After the game, UDM will head to Wisconsin as the red, white and blue face Milwaukee on Wednesday before ending the regular season at Green Bay next Saturday.
 
DETROIT VS. VALPARAISO
Detroit leads the all-time series, 12-9, but Valparaiso has won four of the last five in the series. Despite being just 250 miles apart, the two schools met just four times before Valpo joined the Horizon League in 2008-09.
 
UDM is 5-4 on the road against the Crusaders, but Valparaiso has won the last two in the ARC.
 
ABOUT THE CRUSADERS
Valparaiso had lost eight in a row prior to defeating Detroit back in early February. Since that time, the Crusaders have lost four of five with the only other win against Milwaukee at home.
 
The Crusaders enter the game at 6-20 and 2-11 in the Horizon League, where they are fighting to get out of the nine seed.
 
Dani Franklin - one of the leading contenders for Freshman of the Year - leads the team in scoring at 12.9 points per game. Another All-Rookie candidate Jasmyn Walker is tallying 9.7 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds, while Jessica Carr is averaging 8.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and a team-best 4.2 assists.
 
Valparaiso is eighth in the league in scoring at 64.8 points, while ranking last in scoring defense at 76.5 points.
 
LAST TIME VS. VALPARAISO
Freshman Darianne Seward netted a career-high 28 points, but it wasn't enough as Detroit was upended by the Valparaiso Crusaders, 74-68, at Calihan Hall.

Seward also added six rebounds and two steals. Redshirt sophomore Rosanna Reynolds posted 17 points, a game and season-high eight assists and six rebounds and senior Ellisha Crosby tallied 11 points with seven boards, three assists, two blocks and two steals.
 
Detroit trailed by five, 51-46, midway through the second half, but fought back to eventually knot it at 53-53 with 7:39 left. The Titans took a brief lead at 56-55 as Seward nailed her fifth trey of the game with 5:45 remaining, but Valparaiso answered with a three of its own.
 
The game would later be tied for the eighth time at 60-60 at the 4:36 mark, but the Crusaders regained the momentum with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes.

Seward twice made it a five-point game and she then registered the old fashioned three-point play with a layup and a free throw to get UDM within four, 69-65, with just under a minute left, but Valpo hung on for the win.
 
UDM forced 17 turnovers and tied a season high with 11 steals. The Titans also knocked in 10, 3-pointers, but Valpo countered shooting 51.0 percent from the field with eight trifectas.
 
HORIZON LEAGUE HISTORY
The Titans are 220-221 all-time in the Horizon League with the 220 victories the third most in league history trailing only Green Bay's 296 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 senior Autumn Rademacher '97 led Detroit to a 14-2 mark. The Titans also won the conference tournament, advancing to their only NCAA Tournament.
 
Detroit is in its 35th season as a member of the HL and now stands as the eldest member in the conference by 14 years over Cleveland State, Green Bay, Milwaukee, UIC, and Wright State, who all joined in 1994 with the Titans entering in 1980.
 
HL PLAYOFF PICTURE
The Titans are currently 5-8 in the Horizon League and tied for fifth place in the standings, owning the tiebreaker over UIC with two wins over the Flames. UDM can still climb all the way to three if it can win out and get a lot of help, but it can also fall to last with a losing streak to end the season.
 
If the season ended today, the Titans would be the fifth seed and would play at fourth-seeded Cleveland State in the quarterfinals.
 
GETTING TO 70
The Titans are 58-20 when they score 70 or more points as well as 21-5 when they score 80 or more under head coach Autumn Rademacher '97. UDM has also eclipsed 90 seven times under Coach Rademacher, with a season-high 96 against EMU last year.
 
LARIAH ON FIRE
The Titans needed someone to step up with Ellisha Crosby out against Wright State and junior Lariah Stevens was up to the challenge netting a season-high 17 points on a season-best 7-of-11 shooting with three triples.
 
She also added three rebounds, a season-high three assists and a steal.
 
Stevens had not played in the prior six games and had not scored since a Jan. 15 contest against UIC before going off against the Raiders, just the second time this season she has had double-digit points as she recorded 10 versus Marygrove in the second game of the year.
 
BLOCK PARTY
Detroit tallied five blocks against Wright State, the sixth time this season UDM has had five swats in a game.
 
The Titans are currently fifth in the Horizon League with 2.8 blocks per contest, but are averaging 3.2 per game in the last seven games.
 
SHOTS FALLING
Detroit has been shooting the ball much better of late hitting the 50.0 percent mark twice in the past five games and going over 40.0 percent four times in that span.

Prior to the last five games, UDM had been over 38.0 percent just once in five games.
 
The Titans hit 26-of-52 against Cleveland State on Feb. 21 for their second highest field goal percentage of the season, trailing only its road win at UIC on Feb. 11, when they were 27-of-53 (50.9%).
 
KEEPING THE BALL
UDM had an uncharacteristic 21 turnovers against Cleveland State on Feb. 21, but came back to that ball security with only 10 turnovers against Wright State.
 
The Titans are actually averaging just 13.1 turnovers per game, second in the HL - and 27th in the nation - behind Wright State's 11.9.
 
Detroit has turned it over 10 or fewer times in seven games this year.
 
A COCO HIGH
Freshman Brianne Cohen provided a lot of muscle at Oakland as she scored six points and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, along with her first three steals of the year.
 
Against Cleveland State, she had six more points and two blocks in 21 minutes, while in her last time out against Wright State, she tied her season high with seven points, blocked a season-best three shots and had six boards.
 
MOVING FORWARD
The Titans have already posted more overall wins (6) and conference victories (3) than last season, recorded four road victories to last year's zero, and won a Horizon League game on the road against Youngstown State, which ended a 15-game conference road slide.
 
DARIANNE FOR 3
Freshman Darianne Seward was 3-of-26 from behind the arc in the first 20 games, but has found her stroke from downtown knocking in 9-of-22 in the last six, including 5-of-7 against Valparaiso.
 
PLAYING SMART
The Titans have done two things great this season that have been keys in their wins and keeping them in games.
 
Besides ranking second in the league with just 13.1 turnovers per game, UDM is leads the HL and is 27th in the nation averaging just 15.0 personal fouls per game.
 
Since UDM does a great job at not picking up any extra whistles, they have limited teams to 392 free throw attempts second in the HL to Youngstown State's 324.
 
ELLICIOUS
Senior Ellisha Crosby - who missed the last game with an illness - saw her 13-game double figuring scoring streak come to an end at Oakland, but she regrouped in a big way with 21 points against Cleveland State. It was her seventh career 20-point game and fourth of the season.
 
Against the Vikings, she was 7-of-10 from the field and 6-of-9 from three, while grabbing six rebounds and handing out three assists.
 
She tallied a season-high 25 points against Youngstown State on Feb. 14, tying her season high going 10-of-18 from the field with five triples along with grabbing nine rebounds and handing out three assists.
 
It was the most points she has scored since pouring in a career-high 33 against Eastern Michigan last year.
 
She missed four games at the end of December and early January due to an injury, but she returned in a big way at Wright State recording 24 points.
 
Against Toledo in early December, she also posted 24 points and 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 SEMO and the host Rockets.
 
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.
 
She now has 28 double-digit scoring games in her 33 career Division I contests, and in her Titan career, Crosby is tallying 15.5 ppg., including 14.3 ppg., this year, ninth in the HL.
 
OH MY ROSIE
Redshirt sophomore Rosanna Reynolds posted her 22nd double-digit scoring effort of the year with 11 points her last time out. She recently tallied a game-high 26 points at Oakland, which included 17 in the second half.
 
The performance against Oakland was her second 20-point game against the Golden Grizzlies this year as she had 27 in the win at Calihan Hall.
 
She also now has five 20-point games this season - and six in her career - 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 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 also 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 versus Delaware State on Dec. 18.
 
On the year, she is currently leading the team and is seventh in the HL with 15.8 ppg.
 
MORE THAN JUST SCORE
Redshirt sophomore Rosanna Reynolds has done more than just score on the season as she has also crashed the boards and set up the offense.
 
Reynolds has pulled down five or more rebounds in 14 games and is third on the squad crashing the boards at 5.5 per night, 15th in the Horizon League.
 
She also has five double-doubles with 15 points and 10 rebounds against Cleveland State, 19 points and 11 rebounds at Youngstown State, 33 points and 11 rebounds at IPFW, 19 points and 10 boards at Eastern Michigan and 27 points and 11 boards against Oakland.
 
She has recorded five assists or more in seven games - including a season-high eight against Valparaiso and that followed seven at Youngstown State.
 
In fact, at Oakland on Feb. 18, she did not record an assist for just the third time in her 62-game career with the other two games her freshman year contest at Green Bay and last year at Western Michigan, where she played just one minute before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
 
She is currently second on the team and 10th in the HL in assists at 3.2 per game.
 
GOOD DECISIONS
Redshirt sophomore Rosanna Reynolds and sophomore Haleigh Ristovski are both among the most trustworthy ball handlers in the HL.
 
Ristovski tops the league - and is 17th in the nation - with a 2.46 assist-to-turnover ratio (90 A, 36 TO). As a freshman, Ristovski recorded a 2.7 mark (47 A, 17 TO) last season.
 
Meanwhile, Reynolds is third in the HL - and is 32nd in the nation - with a 2.16 assist-to-turnover ratio (84 A, 39 TO).
 
ALL-AROUND GAME
Sophomore Haleigh Ristovski continues to show her full basketball skills this season on both ends of the floor.
 
She might not be the typical frontcourt player, but she has grabbed at least eight rebounds in 14 of UDM's 26 games, including five with 10 or more.  She also has four double-doubles on the season and tied her career high with 20 points and 12-rebounds at Eastern Michigan.
 
Ristovski had 13 points and 10 rebounds at Toledo, 13 points and 11 rebounds at IPFW and 20 points and 12 caroms versus 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 eight times this year and leads the team and is ninth in the Horizon League at 3.4 per game.
 
Ristovski has also scored in double figures seven times this season and is fourth on the team - and 28th in the HL - in scoring at 8.8 ppg., as well as leading the team and eighth in the conference in rebounding at 7.3 per contest.
 
LITTLE D BRINGS BIG O
Freshman Darianne Seward continues to be a force on offense recording her 18th game in double figures with 21 points against Cleveland State, tying for the team lead.
 
She recently had her first collegiate 20-point game with a game-high 28 points against Valparaiso on Feb. 5 as she was 10-of-15 from the field with five 3-pointers.
 
The three-time HL Freshman of the Week is currently third on the team in scoring and 15th in the Horizon League at 12.1 ppg., the second highest freshman average in the HL behind Valparaiso's Dani Franklin's 12.9.
 
SEWARD NETS FRESHMAN RECORD
Darianne Seward is making her case for the Horizon League Freshman of the Year as she is doing things that very few Titan rookie guards in school history have accomplished.
 
She scored a season-best 28 points against Valparaiso on Feb. 5.
 
The 28 points was the highest-scoring game by a true freshman guard in school history and the highest by a true freshman since 2012.
 
In the season opener, she tallied 19 points at Michigan, the most by a true freshman in a season opener since the 2011-12 season and the most by a true freshman guard since Titan Hall-Of-Famer and school's all-time leading scorer Cassandra Pack had 23 at home against Bowling Green to open the 1983-84 campaign.
 
A TRIPLE THREAT
Redshirt sophomore Rosanna Reynolds has become one of the deadliest long-range shooters in the Horizon League.
 
She is third in the HL - and is 110th in the country - in three-point field goals per game (2.16) as well as fifth in three-point field goal percentage (38.2%), 62ndin the NCAA.
 
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 at least one 3-pointer in 23 of the Titans' 26 games on the year - only at Cincinnati and in both games against Cleveland State did she not have one - and has 55 triples, a new career high passing the 25 she had as a freshman in 34 games in 2012-13.
 
URBANICK ON THE MARK
Freshman Nicole Urbanick missed four games with an injury, but just like Ellisha Crosby, she has come back very strong.
 
Since her return nine games ago, she is averaging 8.0 points and 3.1 rebounds, while shooting 27-of-61 (44.3%) from the field and 16-of-39 (41.0%) from three.

She tied her season high for the third time this season with 12 points at UIC and tallied eight points and a season-high seven boards against Youngstown State. Against Cleveland State, she came off the bench to net nine points on three treys.

She also had 12 points and nailed a season-best four 3-pointers against Green Bay and 12 versus Madonna.
 
Urbanick now has six double-digit scoring efforts on the season.
 
She has also been a three-point specialist for the Titans with 16 of her last 24 buckets from three as have 30 of her 53 baskets on the year.