Game Notes - UIC (PDF)
CHICAGO (1/8/2016) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team aims at its third-straight win Saturday afternoon, when the Titans battle UIC in a 4 p.m. ET contest at UIC Pavilion. The game is set to be televised on ESPN3 and the Watch ESPN Application.
Detroit (6-8, 2-1 Horizon League) is coming off its second-straight win in league play. The Titans most recently earned a 72-66 road win at Valparaiso for their first road victory of the season. Detroit shot 40 percent or better from the floor for the third-consecutive game in the win.
Junior guard Rosanna Reynold is just 30 points away from the 1,000-point milestone in her Titan career. She would be come the 20th player in Detroit women's basketball history to surpass the 1,000-point plateau and first since the 2013-14 season.
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Titans Defeat Crusaders to Improve to 2-1 in Horizon LeagueDetroit rallied from a nine-point second half deficit for a 72-66 road victory at Valparaiso on Thursday. With the win, the Titans improved to 2-1 in league play. Sophomore
Brianne Cohen tied her career-high with 19 points, while junior
Rosanna Reynolds totaled 15 points, eight rebounds and four steals in Detroit's first road triumph of the season.
Cohen and Reynolds scored all 17 Detroit points in the first quarter, but the Titans trailed, 23-17, after the first 10 minutes. Detroit (6-8, 2-1 HL) picked up the intensity in the second quarter and held Valparaiso to nine points in the stanza, while scoring 16 to take a 33-32 halftime lead. Cohen was a force down low in the opening 20 minutes, hitting 6-of-9 shots and scoring 15 points.
Valparaiso opened the second half on a 16-6 run, but the Titans answered.
Haleigh Ristovski and
Brittney Jackson hit back-to-back 3-pointers and
Nicole Urbanick finished an 8-0 run with a pair of free throws. Detroit took the lead, 52-51, on a Ristovski triple with 1:19 left in the third and then Urbanick converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play with 10 seconds left in the stanza to go up 55-53 after three quarters.
The Titans increased their lead to four points after
Chea Taylor's layup early in the fourth quarter. Valparaiso would cut the lead to one point, 59-58, with 6:46 remaining, but
Lola Ristovski took a pass from sister
Haleigh Ristovski and nailed a 3-pointer from the corner as the Titans surged ahead, 62-58, with 4:52 left.
Valparaiso pulled within three points, 69-66, on a Dani Franklin triple, but Reynolds hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final 20 seconds to seal the win. Detroit sank 12-of-15 free throws in the second half, including 5-of-6 in the last 32 seconds.
Rosie Nears 1,000Junior guard
Rosanna Reynolds is quickly nearing the 1,000-point plateau. She is 30 points away from the milestone for her Titan career. Reynolds surpassed the 800-point plateau mark during the Titans' game against No. 8 Maryland and reached the 900-point mark early in the game against Western Michigan.
She would become the 20th player in Detroit women's basketball history to surpass the 1,000-point mark and first since Senee Shearer during the 2013-14 season. Reynolds has led the Titans in scoring in six of 14 games this year and ranks second on the team with a 15.1 points per game average. Reynolds also became the 12th player in school history to hit 100 triples in her career when she sank a 3-pointer in the third quarter vs. Youngstown State.
Urbanick Ties School Record in Career NightSophomore guard
Nicole Urbanick tied a school record when she hit eight 3-pointers -- including five in the third quarter -- on her way to a career-best 32 points against Eastern Michigan on Dec. 30. She tied Daphne Smith's record for triples in a game, that was set in 1987. It was Urbanick's first career 30-point game. Her 17-point third quarter is the high in a quarter for a Titan player this season, surpassing the 14-point quarter she had against Salem International. Urbanick's previous career high was 24 points earlier this season against Salem International.
Urbanick's 32 points is also tied for the most in the Horizon League for a single game this season with Wright State's Kim Demmings. Her 32 points is the most by a Titan since
Rosanna Reynolds tallied 33 points at IPFW in December 2014.
The Divine Child HS graduate ranks first in the Horizon League in 3-pointers made per game (2.9). Urbanick is sizzling from downtown as of late. She is 17-of-35 from downtown in her last four contests (48.5 percent) and has made at least two 3-pointers per game in nine out of her last 10 games. Urbanick is 32-of-79 (40.5 percent) in those 10 contests.
All-Time SeriesDetroit leads the all-time series with UIC that began in 1980, 25-22. The Titans are 8-11 in road games against the Flames. Detroit won both games last year against UIC, including earning a 76-68 victory on Feb. 11, 2015 at UIC Pavilion in Chicago. In its last 10 games against UIC, Detroit is 4-6 overall.
Last Time Out vs. UICDetroit shot 50 percent from the field and tallied 46 second-half points to earn a 76-68 win over the Flames in Chicago. Reynolds totaled 16 points and four steals, while Urbanick scored 12 points for the Titans. Detroit knocked down 8-of-19 shots from downtown. The Titans limited Ruvanna Campbell to just eight points on 3-of-10 shooting and the Flames shot 4-of-16 from beyond the arc.
Overall last season, Campbell finished with an 8.5 points per game average against the Titans, scoring just nine points in their meeting in Detroit. Reynolds finished with 15 points in their meeting in Detroit, as again the Titans shot well from the field, hitting 45 percent of shots in a 70-65 home victory on Jan. 15.
Scouting UICUIC began the season 9-2, but have dropped its first three Horizon League games, falling to Wright State and Northern Kentucky, as well as Oakland at home in its most recent outing. The Flames are 4-2 at home this season despite its 78-76 setback to the Golden Grizzlies on Thursday.
Preseason Horizon League Player of the Year Ruvanna Campbell leads the squad with 17.0 points and 13.0 rebounds per game. She also leads the squad with 32 steals and 22 blocks. She is shooting 43.4 percent from the field. Kendyl Nunn is second on the team with 12.9 points per games in 14 games off the bench. Melita Emanuel-Carr is the third member in double figures scoring at 10.0 points per game, and she also leads the Flames in assists (56) and 3-pointers (16).
Assist-to-Turnover LeadersAfter leading the Horizon League in assist-to-turnover ratio last year,
Rosanna Reynolds and
Haleigh Ristovski are once again doing it in 2015-16. Both players were in the top 20 nationally last season in the category and are 1-2 in the HL once again as Ristovski has a 2.4 ratio and Reynolds is at 2.2. Reynolds has 69 assists against 31 turnovers, while
Haleigh Ristovski has 47 assists and 20 turnovers. Detroit leads the Horizon League in fewest turnovers per game (13.5).
Taking Care of the RockDetroit is tied for first in the Horizon League in fewest turnovers per game this season. The Titans have been ranked among the league leaders all season and currently averages just 13.5 turnovers per game.
The Titans have had five games this year of 10 turnovers or fewer. Detroit turned the ball over six times at St. Bonaventure and followed it up with just nine turnovers against Niagara in the team's first win of the year. UDM also had 10 turnovers against Western Michigan, Youngstown State and Cleveland State.
Earlier in the year against No. 8-ranked Maryland, Detroit had just six turnovers in the second half against one of the top teams in the country in the Terrapins.
Three's CompanyThe Titans had four players reach 40 or more 3-pointers made during the 2014-15 season. Three of those players are back this year -- Reynolds (59 triples), Ristovski (51) and Urbanick (40). The trio combined for 150 of the 221 triples Detroit made a season ago.
Urbanick (40), Ristovski (21) and Reynolds (16) have already combined for 77 three-pointers through 14 games this season. Reynolds became the 12th player in Titan history to reach 100 career triples, reaching the milestone against Youngstown State. Ristovski is 15th all-time with 93 career 3-pointers, while Urbanick is quickly climbing the career ranks in 3-pointers made and has 80 in just 41 career contests.
Fourty and UpDetroit is 6-1 when it shoots 40 percent or better from the floor. The Titans' lone loss when it shot 40 percent came against Youngstown State. The Titans shot a season-high 50.8 percent in their first win of the season over Niagara. Detroit has shot 40 percent or better in its last three games, hitting 43 percent of its field goal attempts in its most recent win against Valparaiso.
Up NextThe Titans head to the Windy City to play UIC on Saturday in a 4 p.m. ET game on ESPN3. Detroit then returns home for three straight contests at Calihan Hall, beginning with a Thursday, Jan. 14 match-up with Wright State at 7 p.m.
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