Titans Open 2016-17 With First Day of Practice

DETROIT (10/2/2016) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team and second-year head coach Bernard Scott's program officially opened practice for the 2016-17 season on Sunday inside historic Calihan Hall.

The Titans are just 40 days away from the first regular season game in their 40th season of women's basketball.

Detroit Mercy brings back its entire squad from last year and has added several new faces to a team that is set to compete for a Horizon League title. The Titans finished fourth in the Horizon League last season, going 15-15 overall and 11-7 in the league in Scott's first season as head coach.

The Titans impressively played the majority of last season with just eight players, but will have much more depth this season. The returners are seniors Rosanna Reynolds and Haleigh Ristovski, juniors Brianne Cohen, Chea Taylor and Nicole Urbanick, and sophomores Brittney Jackson, Taylor Malone, Lola Ristovski and Cortney Williams.

Reynolds (15.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 5.0 apg in 2015-16) is a two-time All-Horizon League performer who was a First Team honoree last year, ranking third in the conference in assists and tied-for-sixth in scoring. Cohen (15.6 ppg, 57.3 FG%) led the Titans in scoring a year ago and ranked fifth in the Horizon League in scoring.

Urbanick (14.1 ppg, 83 triples) led the league in 3-pointers per game (2.77), while Haleigh Ristovski (8.5 ppg, 9.1 rpg) was third in the conference in rebounding and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9). Taylor and Lola Ristovski each started 28 games for Detroit Mercy last season, with Jackson and Malone are also returning with strong experience from last year. Williams is back for the Titans after having to sit out last season due to the NCAA's transfer rules.

The newcomers for 2016-17 are graduate transfer Kelsey Mitchell, transfer sophomore guard Gracie Roberts and true freshmen Anja Marinkovic, Ashley Miller and Zoey Oatis. Mitchell comes to the Titans from the University of Michigan where she was named the Most Improved Player for the Wolverines last year, while Roberts spent last season at North Idaho, a junior college.

Detroit Mercy opens the season with three-straight on the road, beginning the 2016-17 campaign on Nov. 11 at Delaware State. The Titans play eight of their 11 non-conference games away from Detroit before opening the Horizon League season on Dec. 29 at home against Valparaiso.

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