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Postgame Interview On The Titan YouTube Channel

DETROIT -- Junior Britney Murphy (Saginaw, MI/Arthur Hill) ended with a career-high 15 points, and sophomore Yar Shayok (Ottawa, ON/Hillcrest) posted her fifth-straight double-double, but the Titans could not hold off UIC as the Flames captured a 66-58 victory on Saturday afternoon in Calihan Hall.

“Murphy is very talented offensively,” said head coach Autumn Rademacher. “I think she can be more aggressive. She missed some layups that I think we need to address and clean up, but she is someone that we can rely on.”

Shayok finished with 12 points and tied her season-high for the third time this season with 15 rebounds. Sophomore Dominique Dixon (Detroit, MI/Renaissance) added 14 makers and tallied a career-best eight boards, while junior Jalesa Jones (Detroit, MI/Pershing) finished with seven points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals.

“They went into a zone and double teamed her (Shayok) and we struggled to get it inside and when she got it, she was triple teamed and she kicked it out, but we couldn't find anyone that was consistently going to score,” said Rademacher.

The loss drops Detroit to 9-11, 3-6 in the Horizon League, while UIC moved to 10-10, 5-4 in conference action.

Detroit (9-11, 3-6 HL) was down by eight, 56-48, with less than four minutes to go when UDM staged its final charge. Murphy started the offense with a 3-pointer and after a Titan defensive stop, Jones went to the line and connected on two free throws. A UIC (10-10, 5-4 HL) bucket made it a five-point game with three minutes left and the Flames would work their advantage to nine, 62-53 at the 1:14 mark, but off a timeout, Dixon hit a three to get the Titans within six and one minute to go, but that was as close as Detroit would get.

It was a battle right from the opening tip, but UIC was ahead for much of the first half, although the Flames lead was never more than four points.

The Titans were down by four, 22-18, with three minutes left in the first period when the red, white and blue ran off five straight points to take a 23-22 lead. Jones got inside and kicked it out to Shayok, who connected on a short jumper. Sophomore Demeisha Fambro (Detroit, MI/Crockett Tech) then went to the rim and made the layup and a foul shot for a three-point play to give UDM the one-point lead.

The Flames answered with a jumper of their own to go back out in front, 24-23, heading into the locker room.

Detroit came out of the half and quickly grabbed the lead right back as freshman Senee Shearer (Detroit, MI/Pershing) netted a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws on back-to-back possessions to put the Titans up by four, 28-24. The next time down the floor, the Titans pushed their lead to six with Jones hitting a pair from the charity stripe.

The Titans would extend their advantage to as many as seven, 38-31, with 14:37 to go as Murphy found Dixon behind the arc and she nailed a trey.

UIC then jumped back in front with an 8-0 spurt to go up by one, 39-38, but Murphy hit a triple to erase that slim margin. After a UIC basket tied it at 41-all, Jones added a free throw and Dixon hit a layup to once again give UDM the lead, 44-41, but another 8-0 run by the Flames had Detroit down by five, 49-44, with seven minutes left in the contest.

Detroit begins the second half of conference play on the road as the Titans head to Indianapolis to face Butler on Thursday. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Game Notes:
Detroit played without starting guard Lauren Allen and starting forward Cherridy Thornton…For the second-straight game, Shayok nearly had a double-double at the half with eight points and eight rebounds…Neither team hit a three in the first half as Detroit was 0-of-6 and UIC was 0-for-5…Shayok's fifth-straight game with a double-double is the most since Molly Peterman did it four times at the beginning of the 1998-99 season…Shayok's double-double was also her sixth in the last seven games…Shearer made her first start since the Titans played at IPFW on Dec. 11…Jones now has 322 career assists and is now 26 behind Katie Solner for seventh in Titan history.