Gameday Central
Game Notes vs. Green Bay
 
DETROIT (3/6/2015) -- Game number 29 for the Titans and a chance for a home playoff game hinges on the outcome as the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team will close out the regular season at Green Bay on Saturday, March 7.
 
Game time is set for 2:00 p.m. (EST) at the Kress Events Center and will be broadcast live 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.
 
Detroit had a thrilling come-from-behind win at Milwaukee on Wednesday to secure a top-five finish in the Horizon League. The Titans are now 12-16 overall and 7-8 in conference action and will take the hardwood with a chance at a home game in the conference championship in sight. For Detroit to move up to the fourth seed and host a quarterfinals game, the Titans will need to win at Green Bay and have Youngstown State lose to Valparaiso
 
Redshirt sophomore Rosanna Reynolds continues to make her case for First Team All-Horizon League honors as she tallied a game-high 20 points at Milwaukee, her sixth 20-point game of the year. Freshman Darianne Seward is also vying for a major award as the rookie had 10 points and a team-high four assists and came up with a huge steal with nine seconds left, promptly hitting two free throws to seal the win.
 
Another All-HL candidate, senior Ellisha Crosby is ninth in the Horizon League in scoring with 13.9 points per game and is also 14th in rebounding at 5.6 per night.
 
Green Bay is 24-4 on the year and 14-1 in the conference as the Phoenix claimed its 17th-straight regular season championship. Green Bay has won seven in a row and its only blemish on the year was at home against Oakland in early February.
 
The Horizon League Championship is up next for the Titans and they will either host or be on the road in the 4-5 quarterfinals match-up next Wednesday, March 11. Game time for that contest will be at 7:00 p.m., local time, wherever it is played.
 
DETROIT VS. GREEN BAY
Green Bay has won seven in a row over the Titans and leads the all-time series, 42-7. Detroit is 2-14 since head coach Autumn Rademacher '97 took over after coming to her alma mater from Green Bay.
 
The Titans are 2-22 all-time at Green Bay with their last win on the road in the series in 2012.
           
ABOUT THE PHOENIX
Green Bay was picked as the favorite to win the Horizon League and the Phoenix did just that in the regular season capturing its 17th-straight regular season HL title. Green Bay is now 24-4 on the season and 14-1 in league play.
 
Mehryn Kraker leads the team in scoring at 12.4 points to go with 4.7 rebounds. Tesha Buck is averaging 11.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists, while Megan Lukan is tallying 7.4 points and a team-high 5.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists. She also 41 steals.
 
Green Bay is fourth in the Horizon League in scoring at 69.2 points, while ranking first in the conference in scoring defense giving up just 54.5 points.
 
HORIZON LEAGUE HISTORY
The Titans are 222-221 all-time in the Horizon League with the 222 victories the third most in league history trailing only Green Bay's 299 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 by 14 years over Cleveland State, Green Bay, Milwaukee, UIC, and Wright State, who all joined in 1994 with the Titans entering in 1980.
 
WE MEET AGAIN
Head coaches Autumn Rademacher '97 and Kevin Borseth were both members of the same coaching staff at Green Bay.
 
From 2004-08, the Phoenix compiled a 104-22 record, dominating the Horizon League in the process while making a pair of NCAA Tournament and WNIT appearances.
 
As a head coach, Rademacher's Titans defeated a Michigan team coached by Borseth, 67-48, in Ann Arbor on Dec. 18, 2010.
 
THE MISSING KEY?
Detroit has seven career wins against Green Bay and head coach Autumn Rademacher has been involved in six of the seven victories.
 
As a player, Coach Rademacher helped the Titans defeat the Phoenix in 1995, 1996 and twice in 1997, while as a coach, she guided UDM to victories in 2010 and 2012.
 
The only win that did not see Coach Rademacher in uniform or on the sidelines was a 56-50 overtime triumph against the Phoenix at home on Jan. 24, 2004.
 
HL PLAYOFF PICTURE
The Titans are currently 7-8 in the Horizon League and have clinched a top-five finish in the league since they own the tiebreaker with two wins over UIC.
 
Detroit can get to fourth and host a HL quarterfinals game with a win and a Youngstown State loss to Valparaiso.
 
With the seed still up in the air, Detroit knows that it will play either Cleveland State or Youngstown State in the quarterfinals.
 
SHOTS FALLING
Detroit has been shooting the ball much better of late hitting the 50.0 percent mark three times in the past seven games and going over 40.0 percent six times in that span.
 
Prior to the last six games, UDM had been over 38.0 percent just once in five games.
 
The Titans hit 50.0 percent against both Cleveland State (26-of-52) on Feb. 21 and at Valparaiso (33-of-66) on Feb. 28 as well as connecting on a season-best 50.9 percent (27-of-53) at UIC on Feb. 11.
 
The 33 field goals at Valparaiso last Saturday were the most since the Titans tallied 37 against Eastern Michigan last season.
 
MOVING FORWARD
The Titans have posted more overall wins (6) and conference victories (3) than last season, recorded six 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.
 
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 and a season-low six at Valparaiso last Saturday.
 
The Titans are averaging just 12.8 turnovers per game, second in the HL - and 21st in the nation - behind Wright State's 12.0.
 
Detroit has turned it over 10 or fewer times in eight games this year.
 
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 12.8 turnovers per game, UDM leads the HL and is 25th in the nation averaging just 14.9 personal fouls per game.
 
Since UDM does a great job at not picking up any extra whistles, it has been able to limit teams to 444 free throw attempts, second in the HL to Youngstown State's 357.
 
OH MY ROSIE
Redshirt sophomore Rosanna Reynolds posted her 24th double-digit scoring effort of the year with 20 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 now has six 20-point games this season - and seven 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 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 5.3 per night, 15th in the Horizon League.
 
She 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 also recorded five assists or more in eight 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 66-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 3.3 per game.
 
ELLICIOUS
Senior Ellisha Crosby - who came back at Milwaukee after missing two games 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 on Senior Day on Feb. 21.  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 34 career Division I contests, and in her Titan career, Crosby is tallying 15.1 ppg., including 13.9 ppg., this year, ninth in the HL.
 
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 15th in the nation - with a 2.51 assist-to-turnover ratio (94 A, 38 TO). As a freshman, Ristovski recorded a 2.7 mark (47 A, 17 TO) last season.
 
Meanwhile, Reynolds is second in the HL - and is 22nd in the nation - with a 2.38 assist-to-turnover ratio (92 A, 39 TO).
 
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 130th in the country - in three-point field goals per game (2.07) as well as fifth in three-point field goal percentage (38.5%), 58th in 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 25 of the Titans' 28 games on the year - only at Cincinnati and in both games against Cleveland State did she not have one - and has 57 triples, a new career high passing the 25 she had as a freshman in 34 games in 2012-13.
 
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 28 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 eight times this season and is fourth on the team - and 26th in the HL - in scoring at 9.3 ppg., as well as leading the team and ninth in the conference in rebounding at 7.2 per night.
 
MY RESUME FOR FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Darianne Seward is making her case for the Horizon League Freshman of the Year as she ranks first among true freshmen in steals (45), second in scoring (12.0) and third in assists per game (2.8). She is also one of just three Titan players to play and start all 28 games.
 
Below is where she ranks among true freshman in several statistics.
Steals - 45 - 1st
Points Per Game - 12.0 - 2nd
Made Field Goals - 122 - 2nd
Free Throw % - 70.3% - 2nd
Minutes Played - 30.5 - 2nd
Total Assists - 78 - 3rd
Assists Per Game - 2.8 - 3rd
Rebounds Per Game - 3.9 - 5th
Three-Point Field Goals Made - 14 - 9th
Field Goal % (2 Made FG Per Game) - 40.4% - 5th
 
LITTLE D BRINGS BIG O
Freshman Darianne Seward continues to be a force on offense recording her 20th game in double figures with 10 points at Milwaukee. She recently tied her career high with eight rebounds and handed out a season-best five assists at Valparaiso last Saturday.
 
Against Cleveland State on Feb. 21, she tied for the team lead with 21 points, her second 20-point game of the year.
 
She posted her first collegiate 20-point game in a huge way 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 12.0 ppg., the second highest freshman average in the HL behind Valparaiso's Dani Franklin's 12.6.
 
SEWARD NETS FRESHMAN RECORD
Freshman Darianne Seward 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 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 all-time leading scorer Cassandra Pack had 23 at home against Bowling Green to open the 1983-84 campaign.
 
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 10 games ago, she is averaging 8.4 points and 3.5 rebounds, while shooting 34-of-76 (44.7%) from the field and 21-of-49 (42.9%) from three.
 
She just recorded her sixth game in double figures with a season-high 17 points at Valpo on Feb. 28, tying for the team lead. She was 6-of-8 from the field and 4-of-5 from three.
 
Some of her other big games came with 12 points at UIC, against Green Bay and versus Madonna. She also tallied eight points and a season-high seven boards against YSU.
 
Urbanick has also been a three-point specialist for the Titans with 21 of her last 31 buckets from three as have 35 of her 60 baskets on the year.
 
LARIAH ON FIRE
The Titans needed someone to step up with Ellisha Crosby out against Wright State on Feb. 26 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 Jan. 15 contest against UIC before going off against the Raiders, just the second time this season she has scored double-digits as she had 10 versus Marygrove in the second game of the year.
 
A COCO HIGH
Freshman Brianne Cohen has been a big spark for the Titans, giving Detroit some much-needed muscle in the middle.
 
She is coming off a career game at Valparaiso on Feb. 28 as she totaled a season-high 15 points, four steals and three assists in the road victory.
 
At Oakland on Feb. 18, she scored six points and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, along with three steals, while versus Wright State, she recorded seven points, blocked a season-best three shots and had six boards.
 
In the last five games, she is averaging 7.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.2 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.
 
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 11-of-26 in the last eight, including 5-of-7 against Valparaiso on Feb. 5. 
 
GETTING TO 70
The Titans are 59-20 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.
 
STRONG DEFENSE
The Titans have played some tough defense this season, holding teams to just 66.5 points per game, down from last year's 80.5 ppg.
 
UDM has held seven opponents to 60 or less on the season - including Milwaukee's 56 and Valparaiso's 57 the last two games - and twice to under 50.
 
SHARING THE BALL
The Titans finished with 17 assists on their 22 baskets against Green Bay on Jan. 24, the third highest of the season behind the 22 they had against Marygrove and the 18 they registered versus Delaware State.
 
Detroit is fifth in the Horizon League in assists at 14.1 per game.
 
RECORD-SETTING WIN 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.
 
She currently has 101 wins getting to three digits in Detroit's 78-57 victory at Valparaiso on Feb. 28.
 
UDM used an early run in dominating DSU, 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.