Titans Open Horizon League Play at Youngstown State

DETROIT (12/27/2017) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball squad opens Horizon League play this weekend, visiting Youngstown State and Cleveland State in a pair of road contests in Ohio. The Titans open the weekend at Youngstown State for a 7 p.m. Thursday contest at the Beeghly Center.

Both games this weekend may be seen live on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN Applications. General admission tickets for the YSU game are $10 before gameday and $12 the day of the contest.

Detroit Mercy has performed well in Horizon League play under head coach Bernard Scott, recording a mark of 23-13 in his first two seasons as head coach. The Titans finished fourth in 2015-16 before placing third last season on their way to an appearance in the title game of the Horizon League Championship.

Game 12 \| Detroit Mercy (0-11, 0-0 HL) vs. Youngstown St. (4-7, 0-0 HL)
Date / Time	Thursday, Dec. 28 // 7 p.m.
Location / Tickets	Youngstown, Ohio (Beeghly Center) // Ticket Info: $12 / $10
Live Stats	DetroitTitans.com
Live Steam / TV	ESPN3.com / WatchESPN Application
Social Media	Twitter (In-game Tweets): @Detroit_WBB \| Facebook Instagram \| Tweet #DetroitsCollegeTeam
All-Time Series	Titans lead, 23-18 // Last Meeting: Titans 83, YSU 67 (Feb. 25, 2017)

Quick Hits
Detroit Mercy and Youngstown State are meeting for the 42nd time in women's basketball with the Titans holding a 23-18 series advantage. The Titans are 3-1 against the Penguins in head coach Bernard Scott's tenure, winning each of the past three meetings, including both last season.

Senior guard Nicole Urbanick is nearing the 1,000-point milestone for the Titans and is just 15 points off the mark (985 career points) entering Thursday's game against YSU. Urbanick would become the 22nd player in school history to score 1,000 career points. She ranks third all-time in career 3-pointers made (206).

In last year's meeting at Youngstown State, senior forward Brianne Cohen reached the 1,000-point milestone, scoring 17 points in the contest. It was the regular season finale for both squads with Detroit Mercy scoring 52 points in the second half en route to an 83-67 victory.

Detroit Mercy went 23-13 in Horizon League play in head coach Bernard Scott's first two seasons as head coach of the Titans. The red, white and blue recorded a 12-6 mark last year on their way to a third-place finish in the conference.

Last Time Out
Senior Brianne Cohen posted a game-high 21 points and freshman Lexey Tobel added 11 as the Titans dropped an 81-64 contest to Toledo in their non-conference finale on Dec. 21.

It was the seventh 20-point game of the year for Cohen as she was 7-of-11 from the field and 7-of-9 at the free throw line along with grabbing four rebounds and recording two assists and two steals. She scored 20 of her 21 points after the halftime break.

Senior Nicole Urbanick ended the contest with nine points and a team-high seven rebounds. Junior Lola Ristovski had seven points and five rebounds and Ashley Miller finished with a career-best nine points.

The Titans shot 41.5 percent from the field (22-for-53) and forced 11 Toledo turnovers.

Scouting Youngstown State
The Penguins won their final two non-conference games before the Christmas break, topping Northern Arizona by a 69-67 margin, before downing Penn State-Beaver 97-40 on Dec. 20. Overall, YSU went 4-7 during the non-conference slate with its other two victories coming over Loyola (Ill.) and Ohio Valley.

The only common opponent thus far with the Titans was Kent State, with Youngstown State falling 55-44 at home in the second game of the season.

Youngstown State is led in scoring by junior Sarah Cash, who has returned from an injury to average 10.5 points per game. She is shooting 58 percent from the floor and 74 percent at the free throw line. Senior Indiya Benjamin adds 9.7 points per game and has a team-best 46 assists. Alison Smolinksi (25 treys) and Nikki Arbanas (21 triples) have combined for 46 3-pointers with YSU sinking a league-high 102 triples in 2017-18.

All-Time Series
The Titans and Penguins are meeting for the 42nd time in women's basketball, with Detroit Mercy maintaining a 23-18 series advantage over YSU.

The Titans are 8-13 in games played in Youngstown. Detroit Mercy has won two-straight at the Beeghly Center and three of the past four on the road vs. YSU.

Detroit Mercy won both games during the 2016-17 season, defeating YSU on the road in the final game of the regular season by an 83-67 margin. Brianne Cohen went over 1,000 career points during the game last year, scoring 17 points.

The Titans have won their past three meetings with YSU overall since dropping head coach Bernard Scott's very first league contest, 72-70, on Jan. 2, 2016.

Up Next
Detroit Mercy visits Cleveland State on Saturday at 1 p.m. before returning home for two home contests against Northern Kentucky and Wright State.