Game Notes vs. Toledo         WNIT Website 
  
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DETROIT -- Detroit's first postseason action since 1997 will get underway on Friday as the Titans travel to Toledo for the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m., at Savage Arena.

Fans, tickets for the general public are currently on sale thought the Toledo Ticket Office. Tickets start at $13.00 for reserved lower bowl seats and $11.00 for upper East general admission tickets. Fans may purchase their tickets at the UT Ticket Office or by calling (419) 530-4653 with a MasterCard or Visa.

Those that can't make it out to support the team can follow all the action through live stats or through a live webcast. Followers of the Titans on twitter will also get updates throughout the game.

Detroit posted 20 wins on the season for the first time since 1997 and received the Horizon League's automatic bid to the WNIT by virtue of finishing second in the HL with a 14-4 record. The 14 wins also tied a school record for the most conference wins in school history, the second time UDM has achieved that during head coach Autumn Rademacher's four years.

The Titans are led by All-Horizon League First Team member and Co-HL Newcomer of the Year Shareta Brown. The rookie has broken just about every freshman record in Titan history including points in a season (583) and points in a game (31). Her 17.7 points per game would also set a new Titan freshman record and give her the seventh best single season average in school history. She is also tallying 8.8 rebounds per game (8th in the HL) and is leading the league and ranks fifth in the nation in field-goal percentage (56.2).

A pair of senior guards are also looking to win their first postseason games in Lauren Allen and Jalesa Jones. Allen is averaging 6.0 ppg., 3.9 rpg., and 2.9 apg., and is currently ninth in school history with 347 assists, just one away from catching Katie Solner  (2002-06) for eighth.

Jones comes into the game averaging 7.7 ppg.,3.6 rpg., and a HL-best 4.8 apg. She is already the Titan career assists leader with 513, a number that ranks 11th all-time among Horizon League players.

Toledo won a share of the MAC West Division and is the defending WNIT champions. The Rockets went 21-9 on the year and 13-3 in the MAC, falling to Eastern Michigan in the conference tournament semifinals.

Three Rockets are in double digits in scoring led by Andola Dortch- the MAC Defensive Player of the Year. She led the team in scoring (13.2), assists (4.7) and steals (1.9). Toledo averaged 63.1 points during the season and gave up just 56.9.

The winner of the game will move on to face the winner of the Cincinnati-Duquesne match-up, with the date of that contest still TBA . The second round of the WNIT is scheduled for Mar. 17-19.

THE DETROIT-TOLEDO SERIES
The Titans and Toledo have met just 23 times despite being just a little more than an hour away from each other.

The teams have not met since the 2007-08 season when a home-and-home series was played with the Rockets winning both games to take a 15-8 lead in the series.

Prior to that, UDM had won four in a row between 1999 and 2003.

Detroit is 3-8 all-time on the road in the series.

ABOUT THE WNIT
The Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) is celebrating its 15th season and has selected one of its most competitive fields in tournament history featuring 36 teams with 20 or more wins this season.

First-round action tips off on Wednesday, March 14 and concludes on Friday, March 16. Second-round games begin March 17-19, Round Three March 21-23, Quarterfinals March 24-26, and Semifinals March 28-29. The championship game will be played on Saturday, March 31. All games are hosted by participating schools.

The Postseason WNIT is owned and produced by Fort Collins, Colo.-based Triple Crown Sports, which also organizes men's and women's college basketball tournaments in Cancun, and the Preseason WNIT. Triple Crown is the leader in grassroots sports and manages over 300 amateur sporting events across the country in volleyball, fastpitch, baseball, and basketball. With 28 years of experience in the event business, Triple Crown is nationally-recognized as a premier tournament organization.

FIRST TIME IN WNIT
By virtue of finishing second in the Horizon League with a 14-4 record, UDM earned the Horizon League's automatic bid to the WNIT.

It is the first time in Titan history that they are appearing in the WNIT and the first postseason action for Detroit since its lone NCAA Tournament bid in 1997.

TITAN POSTSEASON HISTORY
Since the NCAA started sponsoring women's basketball in 1981, Detroit has made two postseason tournaments with this year's WNIT and the 1997 NCAA Tournament.

Prior to that, Detroit competed in the State Small College, State Large College, Region 5 and the AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) Tournament's between 1977-1981.

Detroit captured three state titles from 1979-81 and took part in the AIAW National Tournament in 1981.

At the time, the AIAW National Tournament was what the NCAA Tournament stands for today.

ALL-TIME POSTSEASON RECORD
Counting the early days of the state tournaments, the Titans are 16-6 all-time in the postseason.

BONUS BASKETBALL IN DETROIT
With the men winning the Horizon League and advancing to the NCAA Tournament, it marks the first time in school history that both the men and women will be playing postseason basketball since the NCAA officially added women's athletics in 1981.

Before that, the women were in the state and Region 5 tournaments in 1978 and 1979, while the men took part in the NIT in 1978 and the NCAA Tournament in 1979.

Fans of the Titans will surely have a party Friday night as the women's game begins at 7:00 p.m., with the men facing Kansas at 9:57 p.m.

SIXTH TRIP TO THE FINALS
Detroit made its sixth trip to the Horizon League title game last week and the first under head coach Autumn Rademacher.

After winning its first championship game in 1997 - when coach Rademacher was a star guard leading the team to a victory - Detroit has now dropped its last five, all to Green Bay.

THE TITANS LAST POSTSEASON
Detroit was a 14-seed in the NCAA Tournament and traveled to face the 3-seed in #9 Kansas in 1997.

The Jayhawks led by eight at the half, 36-28, but Detroit would actually go on a 9-0 run to start the second to take the lead.

It was brief as Kansas quickly recovered and eventually went on to win the game, 81-67.
Jeanie Hill had 24 points in the loss, while coach Rademacher netted xxx

BROWN EARNS HL ALL-TOURNAMENT
Freshman Shareta Brown once again showcased why she is one of the best players in the Horizon League.

She had a team-high 22 points - including 16 in the first half - and nine rebounds and was named to the HL All-Tournament Team. 

She averaged 23.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in the tournament's three games, while shooting 60.5% from the field.

It was Brown's 13th-20-point game on the season and came on the heels of her posting a game-high 30 points in the semifinals victory over Wright State.

THIS TIME, IT'S AN HL RECORD
Freshman Shareta Brown has been no stranger to Titan records, but she now owns a Horizon League one too.

Brown broke the Horizon League Championship tournament record with 25 made free throws - passing the 20 by UDM's Jocelyn Boyd in 1997 and Green Bay's Chandra Johnson in 2000) - and ended the tournament 25-of-28 (89.2%) from the free throw line.

WOMEN'S BANQUET SET FOR MAR.22
The women's basketball team will be hosting its annual basketball banquets next week! The deadline to RSVP for the women's annual basketball banquet is Thursday, March 15, 2012.

The Women's Basketball Banquet will be held at Juliano's in Warren.

Dinner will commence at 6 p.m. with the program starting at 7 p.m.

The cost for each banquet is $20 per person.

On sight registration is available however; fans are highly encouraged to RSVP.

To RSVP or for more information please contact Brandon Longmeier at 313-993-1700 or via e-mail at brandon.longmeier@udmercy.edu

DETROIT BASKETBALL!!!
The Detroit men's basketball won the Horizon League Championship and the women are in the WNIT.

Both teams have had a bit of a roller coaster season, but have turned it on since slow starts as the men were 3-6 through their first nine and the women were 1-8.

In fact since Dec. 18, the two teams have combined for a 36-10 record with the women at 19-5 and the men at 17-5.

AGAINST THE MAC
The Titans are 73-61 all-time against current teams from the Mid-American Conference.

Since head coach Autumn Rademacher took over the reins as the Titan leader in 2008, Detroit is 7-5 against the league – and 6-2 in its last eight games.

On the year, Detroit has defeated Ball State, Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan, while falling to Bowling Green.

AGAINST THE STATE OF OHIO
Detroit is 112-107 all-time against schools from the state of Ohio.

While the Titans have enjoyed success against the Horizon League schools based in Ohio (34-11 vs. Cleveland State, 22-18 vs. Wright State, 17-13 vs. Youngstown State), Detroit has actually not won a non-conference game against an Ohio school since taking a 47-44 victory over Ohio on Nov. 29, 2003.

During this span, the Titans have dropped 13-straight out of conference games to the Buckeye State.

A LOOK BACK AT THE SCHEDULE
With all the postseason fields set, the Titans can look back at a non-conference schedule that definitely prepared them for the Horizon League.

Seven teams from the non-conference made a postseason tournament with Eastern Michigan, Michigan and Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament, while Bowling Green, Drexel, Howard and Utah qualified for the WNIT.

Six of the 12 teams had winning records, while five tallied at least 20 wins.

MORE ON J'S HELPERS
Senior Jalesa Jones is not only the Titan assist leader, but her 513 career assists have her 11th all-time in Horizon League history.

In fact, only 12 HL players have even tallied 500 helpers while playing in the conference.

Below is the list of the 12 players who have reached that feat.:

Mariann Murtaugh (88-92) –Loyola – 653
Julie Grant (95-00) - Cleveland State – 612
Angie McGrew (85-89)- Evansville  – 594
Melissa Kilgore (85-88) – Butler - 584
Mary Majewski (90-93) – Butler – 583
Karen Robinson (87-91) – Notre Dame – 579
Coquese Washington (89-93) – Notre Dame – 554
Nancy Bowden (01-04) – Butler - 540
Veronica Pettry (86-90) –Loyola – 538
Carol Madsen (91-94) – Xavier – 518
Jalesa Jones (08-12) – 513
Barb Skinner (80-83) – Butler - 509