GAMEDAY CENTRAL.      Game Notes

DETROIT (11/8/2012) -- The summer workouts have come and gone and so have the 40 days of training and two exhibition games and now it's time to play ball as the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team will officially open the 2012-13 season on the road against in-state rival Michigan on Friday.

Game time is set for 6:00 p.m., at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor. Fans that can't make it out the game can follow all the action on live stats, but there will be no live video for the contest.

Titan fans can follow every UDM 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 photos and game tickets. The Game Day 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 was a perfect 2-0 in the preseason as they had little trouble in defeating Lawrence Tech (97-33) and Marygrove (125-35).

Michigan is coming off a 20-12 season, reaching 20 wins for the fourth time in school history. The Wolverines earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament last year and return 11 players from that squad, including three senior starters in Jenny Ryan, Nya Jordan and Rachel Sheffer. Sheffer led the team in scoring last season at 12.8 ppg., while Ryan had team-highs in rebounds (6.4), assists (4.1) and steals (3.1). They are currently receiving votes in both the AP (9) and the USA Today's Coaches Poll (7), and are led by first-year head coach Kim Barnes Arico

U-M won its lone exhibition game of the year, 106-35, against Slippery Rock and own a 24-15 record in season openers, which includes six-straight wins.

Detroit leads the all-time series, 12-10, but Michigan has won seven of the last eight meeting. UDM came away with a victory in its last trip to Ann Arbor as the Titans never trailed in a 67-48 victory on Dec. 18, 2010.

SEASON PREVIEW
For Coach Rademacher's Video Season Preview, click here.

The 2011-12 season proved to be a special one for the Titans as Detroit posted 20 wins and reached a postseason tournament for the first time since 1997. Their automatic bid to the WNIT was also the first in school history.

“We have talked about, lets never forget where we came from and we have built it up this far so let's just keep it going and keep playing,” said head coach Autumn Rademacher. “We are at a point where we have established some respectability and credibility as far as us being victorious over ranked teams and being in the top of the conference and we have expectations and we are going to try and live up to them.”

UDM will look to build upon that success with the return of eight letterwinners and three starters from that squad, including All-Horizon League First Team member and Co-HL Newcomer of the Year in sophomore Shareta Brown and the League's Sixth Player of the Year in senior Yar Shayok. Juniors Megan Hatter and Senee Shearer are also back after breakout sophomore campaigns, while senior Demeisha Fambro will add a veteran presence to the team.

In Brown, Detroit returns one of the top players in the Horizon League and arguably the best low-post player in the conference. She dominated the conference as a freshman last season tallying 18.0 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, good for fourth and eighth in the HL respectively. She led the Horizon League – and was fifth in the NCAA - in field goal percentage (55.9) and ended the year with 12 doubles-doubles, 14 20-point games and a pair of 30-point performances.

“A lot of focus will be on Shareta,” said Coach Rademacher. “In practice, she gets really upset when she misses shots and she gets upset at her perimeters when they throw it inside and its gets tipped and says to do it again because she knows how important it is for us to get the ball inside.

Shayok and Hatter combined with Brown to give UDM one of the best frontcourts in the league. Shayok has collected a host of awards as a Titan, including Newcomer of the Year and Second Team All-League (2010), All-Defensive Team (2011) and her latest being the Sixth Player of the Year last season. The fifth-year senior is currently second in Titan history with 852 career rebounds and averaged 7.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game as a junior.

“Yar has really taken it on this year and has stolen my thunder quite a bit with her pre-game speeches, her post-game speeches and practice speeches,” said Coach Rademacher “We are all really jumping on her back saying, Yar it's your senior year and we know everyone gets that sense of urgency when it's their last year and right now she is saying the right things and everyone is following.”

In the Titans' two preseason games, Brown averaged 24.5 ppg., scoring 29 points in just 17 minutes against Marygrove, while Shayok posted a pair of double-doubles and averaged 19.5 points and 12.0 rebounds per game.

Hatter broke though in her second year in many ways – even if they don't always show up on the stat sheet. She played in all 34 games last season and started the last 25, finishing the season with 5.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. She is an athletic forward who can defend and run the floor as well as shoot from the outside, giving defenses a lot to think about.

A few more bodies for upfront will be junior Julianna Glanz and sophomore Brie Wilcox, along with freshmen DaVonna Bradford and Eman Hubbard. Glanz stands at 6-5 and continues to improve her footwork, speed and overall game entering her third season. Wilcox did not see a lot of playing time as a freshman as she adjusted to the collegiate game, but her ability to be a perimeter threat as a forward will put pressure on the defense.

Wilcox scored 10 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in the preseason, while Bradford posted 6.5 ppg., and 3.0 rpg.

UDM will have to make up for the loss of starting guards Lauren Allen and Jalesa Jones as well as reserve guard Chanahl Putnam. Allen and Jones both rank in the top 10 in assists, with Jones ending her career as the all-time Titan leader with 515. That duo also combined to start over 200 games in their career and will be missed running the offense and spearheading the defense in the Motor City.

Fambro and Shearer are the Titans most experienced guards on the roster. Fambro has played in 93 games in her career and can light up the scoreboard with her outside shooting as well as her ability to get to the basket. She went off for 21 at Ball State last year hitting 9-of-12 from the field and also netted 18 against No. 14/12 Green Bay at home. She also has two other 20-point performances in her career.

Shearer – who tore her ACL in the Horizon League Championship game against Green Bay and is still rehabbing - started last year off as slow as anyone did in college basketball, but when she finally caught fire, she sent a message to the rest of the Horizon League. She was second on the team in scoring (11.1) and was third in the conference in three-point field goals (75) and third in the HL and 59th in NCAA in three-point field goals per game (2.27). Her 75 trifectas ranked second all-time on the Titan single-season list. She did all that despite missing her first 16 three-point attempts on the season and did not have a triple through the first eight games. She went on to post 18 double-digit scoring games and seven 20-point games this season.

Sophomore Audrey Matteson is back after playing in 21 games a year ago. She has had great summer training and will look for increased playing time to showcase her shooting ability. In the two exhibition games, she averaged 11.5 ppg., hitting 5-of-8 from behind the arc.

“Audrey worked her tail off to get in the best condition she can,” noted Coach Rademacher. “She is a smart player, she can shoot from a very long distance and is also a great passer. She creates a lot of match-up problems with people.”

Three newcomers will vie for playing time in the backcourt in freshmen Tayelor McCalister, Rosanna Reynolds and Destiny Lavita-Stephens. Another guard on the roster is sophomore transfer Ellisha Crosby, who will sit out this season, but will give Detroit a talented offensive player in practice to play against every day.

“We will be very young,” said Coach Rademacher. “I have said it all along that having Lauren and Jalesa handling the ball for us for four years was a luxury for us. I am very excited for them and I know there is going to be some growing pains in those positions, but with Yar, Shareta and Megan, I think their leadership has really helped.”

McCalister, Reynolds and Stephens will all look to help ease the void left by Allen and Jones and each will bring a unique strong characteristic to the team.

In the preseason, Reynolds recorded 10.5 ppg., with 14 assist to just three turnovers and came away with eight steals. Lavita-Stephens scored in double digits off the bench in both contests and tallied 12.0 ppg., while McCalister also saw time and showcased her all-around game, especially against Lawrence Tech where she totaled six points, grabbed six rebounds, had three assists and two steals.

“Rosanna has done an outstanding job from us from the start. She is just solid all-around and she knows what we want and is able to make plays,” added Coach Rademacher.

“Destiny coming off the bench, there is not one shot that she doesn't like out there, which I like because if you leave her open, she is going to shoot it so all year, teams are going to have to honor her,” said Coach Rademacher. “Tayelor is very fast, a great defender, a great passer and a playmaker.”