The Basics
Final Score: Oakland 79, Detroit 73
Records: Detroit 8-10 (4-3 HL), Oakland 11-7 (3-4 HL)
Location: Detroit, Mich. (Calihan Hall)
DETROIT (1/23/2016) -- Junior
Haleigh Ristovski and sophomore
Brianne Cohen established new career highs with 21 points each Saturday, but the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team fell to Metro Series rival Oakland, 79-73, at Calihan Hall. With the loss, Detroit fell to 4-3 in the Horizon League.
Detroit (8-10 overall) trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half, but the Titans showed the same fight they have all year and clawed all the way back to within two points late in the fourth quarter. Detroit was down by nine points with 3:38 left, but went on a 7-0 run to pull to within two points, 68-66, with 2:25 left.
Haleigh Ristovski opened the run with a 3-pointer and it was followed by a fast break lay-up by
Chea Taylor. Cohen followed with a lay-up of her own down low after an Oakland miss to pull the Titans to within two points.
Oakland (11-7, 3-4 HL) again went up by four points, 70-66, but Detroit had an answer again, as Cohen converted on another lay-up to trail, 70-68, with 1:26 left on the clock. Oakland's Sinclair Russell followed with just her second 3-pointer of the season off an offensive rebound to put Oakland ahead five points, 73-68 with 57 seconds left.
Haleigh Ristovski sank her fifth 3-pointer of the game with 48 seconds left off
Rosanna Reynolds' ninth assist of the contest to pull the Titans to within two points once again, 73-71. After the two teams traded buckets, Detroit was forced to foul with time running out. Oakland made all four free throws in the final eight seconds to clinch the victory.
Detroit scored 27 points in the final quarter, 16 of them in the paint.
The Titans led most of the first half, until Oakland took the lead in the final minute of the second quarter. The Golden Grizzlies held the halftime lead, 36-34.
Haleigh Ristovski tied her career-high with 13 rebounds and notched her fourth double-double of the season. She went 4-for-4 from the free throw line and made 5-of-10 triples on the day. The five 3-pointer makes also tied a career-best.
Reynolds tied a career-high with nine assists, while adding 10 points and six rebounds for Detroit. She matched her career-best in helpers, matching the nine she had against Cleveland State during her freshman season. Sophomore
Nicole Urbanick hit three 3-pointers and dished off a career-high seven assists. Detroit had 20 assists as a team, the fourth time its reached that plateau this season.
Detroit shot 42 percent from the floor, the sixth time its done that in the past seven games. The Titans shot 50 percent in the second half on 16-of-32 shooting and made 5-of-9 treys in the final 20 minutes. Oakland shot 48.5 percent for the game, including 50 percent in the second half.
The Titans also out-rebounded the Golden Grizzlies, 39-36.
Oakland had four players score 16 points or better and were led by senior Elena Popkey with 18 points.
Up NextThe Titans hit the road for seven of their next nine games, beginning with a trip to Wisconsin next weekend. Detroit opens the trip at Milwaukee on Thursday, Jan. 28 before traveling to Green Bay to face the Phoenix on Jan. 30.
