Game Notes vs. Cleveland State

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DETROIT -- Looking to solidify a top-four seed and a home game in the upcoming Horizon League Tournament, the Detroit women's basketball team will host Cleveland State on Thursday to begin its final homestand of the season. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m., at Dick Vitale Court in Calihan Hall.

Tickets to the game are $6 for an adult and $4 for children and seniors.

Fans that can't make it to the game can follow all the action live on the Horizon League Network as well as with a live stats feed from SIDEARM Sports. Followers of the Titans on Twitter will also get live updates throughout the game.

Detroit comes into the game at 14-12, 10-4 in the Horizon League. UDM is tied for second place with Wright State, but hold the tiebreaker over the Raiders with its win at Green Bay. A win on Thursday and a Butler loss at Milwaukee would guarantee a top-four seed for the Titans.

UDM saw its five-game winning streak come to an end last Thursday as the red, white and blue fell on the road to Wright State, 91-82. Four players scored in double figures led by freshman Shareta Brown's 26 points, seven rebounds and career-high eight assists – all in just 24 minutes of action.

History could be in the making for Detroit as senior Jalesa Jones is just seven assists away from breaking the school record, currently held by Mary Lillie (1978-82) at 486.

The Titans will close out the home portion of their regular season schedule on Saturday as Detroit host Youngstown State on Senior Day. Game time is scheduled for 2:00 p.m., with the Titans honoring their two seniors in Lauren Allen and Jones prior to the start of the game.

DETROIT VS. CLEVELAND STATE
The Titans ended a three-game slide to Cleveland State with a 50-43 victory in Cleveland back on Jan. 28. CSU has still won five of the last seven meetings, but the Titans have dominated the overall series with a 32-11 advantage.

The Titans are also 17-3 all-time against the Vikings in the Motor City, but CSU has won two of the last three trips to Detroit.

ABOUT THE VIKINGS
Cleveland State was picked to finish second in the Horizon League's preseason poll, but the Vikings have struggled to this point with a 10-16 overall record and a 5-10 mark in the HL, where they stand in seventh place.

Junior Shalonda Winton leads the team and is third in the HL tallying 17.5 points per game as well as second in the league with 10.2 rebounds per night.

Senior Destinee Blue is second on the team at 11.5 ppg., but she missed seven games with an injury and did not play in CSU's last game at Loyola due to a coaches' decision.

Cleveland State is averaging 59.0 points per game, while giving up 67.6 ppg.

LAST TIME AGAINST CLEVELAND ST.
The Detroit defense held Cleveland State to just 25% shooting as the Titans came away with a 50-43 win at the Wolstein Center.

Freshman Shareta Brown led the way with 20 points and eight rebounds, while junior Yar Shayok tallied a season-high 14 points.

The suffocating Detroit defense forced Cleveland State into a 13-of-52 performance from the field and just a 3-of-18 effort from three-point range.

Detroit was down, 23-21, at the 15:32 mark in the second half when UDM scored six-straight points to take the lead for good. Cleveland State would get back to within one twice, the latest at 34-33, with 7:40 remaining, but a 10-1 run helped Detroit push its lead to 10, 44-34, with 2:52 remaining.

The Vikings cut the Titan lead down to three, 45-42, in the last 30 seconds, but Detroit held on for the win.
It was a defensive battle right from the start as both teams shot less than 30% from the field and combined for 17 turnovers taking a 17-17 game into the locker room.

GOOD NUMBERS VS. CSU
Junior Yar Shayok has put together some strong games in five career outings against Cleveland State. She is averaging 12.6 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. She has been in double digits in scoring in all five games and has posted a pair of double-doubles.

Senior Jalesa Jones has tallied 8.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists in seven career games, with two double-digit scoring outings and an eight-assist contest at home last season.

A PEEK AT THE STANDINGS
The Titans are currently tied for second place in the Horizon League at 10-4 with Wright State, but own the tiebreaker over the Raiders with the victory at Green Bay.

Due to that win against the Phoenix, the red, white and blue control their own destiny for a No. 2 seed, which they would get by winning out.

Detroit enters today's game knowing that it is guaranteed to finish no lower than fifth in the conference, giving UDM a bye in the opening round of the Horizon League Tournament.

A win over Cleveland State coupled with a Butler loss at Milwaukee would guarantee Detroit a top-4 seed in the tournament and a home game in the quarterfinals to be played on Mar. 7.

TITANS VICTORY TOTAL RISING
Detroit already has more wins than the 13 it had last year and with one more victory, UDM will have just its third season with 15 or more wins in the last 10 years.

The Titans were 17-14 in the 2009-10 season in head coach Autumn Rademacher's second year at UDM. They were also 15-14 during the 2003-04 campaign.

A RECORD BREAKING WEEK?
Senior Jalesa Jones began the season in seventh place on the Titan all-time assists list, but she has climbed all the way to second place and is now just seven away from owning the record.

She currently has 480 assists - passing the likes of current head coach Autumn Rademacher (439) and Jocelyn Boyd (451). 

Jones now trails only Mary Lillie who posted 486 during her career (1978-82).

As a freshman, Jones had 84 assists, while collecting 159 as a sophomore and 112 last year. She has already posted 125 this year.

For her career, she is tallying 4.1 apg.

BROWN LEADING THE HL, TOP 10 IN THE NATION
In the latest NCAA stats, released on Monday, Feb. 20, freshman Shareta Brown is currently leading the Horizon League and is 10th in the nation in field-goal percentage (55.5%).

She is also eighth in the HL and 81st in the country with 8.6 rebounds per game, while standing fifth in the league and 59th in scoring (16.9).

JONES TOP 50 IN THE COUNTRY
Senior Jalesa Jones tops the conference with 4.8 assists per game, good for 48th in the nation.

She is also second in the HL and 81st in the country with a 1.52 assist-to-turnover ratio.

SENEE SIZZLING
Sophomore Senee Shearer has found that comfort zone in her second year.

After getting off to a slow start, the second-year guard has transformed into one of the best scorers in the HL.

She has 14 double-digit scoring games and six 20-point games this season, including a four-game stretch where she set or tied her career highs with 15 against Michigan and 23 in back-to-back games versus IPFW and Eastern Michigan before establishing a new career high with 24 at Western Michigan. She also tallied back-to-back 20-point games against UIC (22) and at #9 Green Bay (23).

Prior to this recent streak, Shearer's only career double-digit game was a 13-point performance at IPFW last season.
She is currently second on the team in scoring and 17th in the HL at 11.2 points per game, and is averaging 15.3 ppg., in the last 17 games.

SHEARER IN THE TOP 10
The long range shooting of sophomore Senee Shearer not only has her among the league leaders, but also among the best in Titan history.

On the year, Shearer is second in the HL with 55 3-pointers and third with 2.1 per game.

Her 55 3-pointers are also tied for ninth in school history, just one behind head coach Autumn Rademacher's seventh-place mark of 56 as a freshman and sophomore and three in back of Michelle James' 58 (2000-01) for sixth.

ALL TOGETHER NOW
As a team, the Titans are second in the Horizon League and 42nd in Division I with a +5.2 rebounding margin.

They also rank second in the HL and 47th in the nation in field-goal percentage (42.1%) and third in the conference (65th in the nation) with 14.3 assists per game.

UDM is fourth in the HL in scoring at 65.5 ppg., and third in free throw percentage hitting at 71.9%, good for 75th in the nation.

SUPER FROSH
Freshman Shareta Brown continues to impress during her rookie year with some great performances.

She has tallied nine double-doubles on the year and has been in double figures in scoring 22 times in the Titans' 26 games.

She has also crossed the 20-point plateau nine times with a season-high 31 points at Loyola on Jan. 7.

With that 30-point explosion, Brown became just the 16th player in school history to score 31 or more in a game, which was also the most by a freshman in school history.

BROWN BREAKS ONE FRESHMAN RECORD, ANOTHER COMING
Freshman Shareta Brown did more than just lead the Titans to a victory at Loyola on Jan. 7, she also broke the school's single-game scoring record for a freshman with 31 points.

The previous record for a freshman was 30 by Michelle DeHaan on Jan. 15, 1994 at Evansville.

With 26 games in the books, Brown has already scored 440 points and is well on her way of breaking the Titan freshman record for points in a season, held by Hall-Of-Famer Cassandra Pack, who tallied 453 in just 26 games (17.4 ppg.) during the 1983-84 season.

Brown currently leads the team in scoring at 16.9 ppg., and if she keeps that up, she will be the first true freshman to lead the Titans in scoring since Autumn Rademacher did it with 15.2 ppg., during the 1993-94 season.

THREE STRAIGHT WITH 20+
Freshman Shareta Brown has scored 20+ points in three-straight games, making it the second time this season that a Titan has accomplished the feat.

Sophomore Senee Shearer also did it in late December as she had 23 against IPFW and Eastern Michigan and a career-high 24 at Western Michigan sophomore Senee Shearer now shares a common stat with her head coach.

The last Titan to net 20+ in four-straight games was Cassandra Pack to end the 1986-97 season.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP
The senior back court of Lauren Allen and Jalesa Jones has logged plenty of minutes for the Titans and both start the season among the Horizon League leaders in minutes played. Jones actually leads all current HL players with 3,763 minutes, while Allen is fifth on the list with 3,367 minutes.

Below is a list of the top 5 current players in the league in minutes played:  (as of 2/22/11)
Jalesa Jones - Detroit - 3,763
Shamiea Green - UIC - 3,612
Jasmine Bailey - UIC - 3,604
Kenya Middlebrooks - Youngstown State - 3,447
Lauren Allen - Detroit - 3,367

SHE'S STARTING
Senior Jalesa Jones has started 94-straight games and 114-of-119 in her career.

The last time that she was not in the starting line-up was on Feb. 19, 2009 - her freshman year at Youngstown State.
Jones is fourth in school history with 114 career starts, trailing only Cheryl Williams (121-1979-82), head coach Autumn Rademacher (116-1993-97) and Mary Lillie (115-1978-82).

Williams started all 121 games she played in, while Rademacher started in 116-of-117 and Lillie 115-of-117.

JONES' STARTS AMON THE NATION
Senior Jalesa Jones' 94-straight starts are the sixth most in the nation among active players.

Below is a list of the student-athletes with the most consecutive starts: (as of 2/22/12)
C'eira Ricketts – Arkansas – 120
Andrea Holmes – Binghamton – 116
Megan Richardson - Cal State Fullerton – 111
Katie Bussey – Montana State – 104
Desiree Pina – Fairfield – 96
Jalesa Jones – Detroit – 94
Jessica Jenkins - St. Bonaventure - 93
Katelyn Linney – Fairfield – 91

Her 114 career starts also rank as the eighth most among active players: (as of 2/22/12)
Shekinna Stricklen  - Tennessee – 129
Whitney Jones - Louisiana Tech - 125
Desiree Pina – Fairfield – 121
Tia Lewis - Old Dominion - 120
C'eira Ricketts – Arkansas – 120
Viive Rebane – Binghamton – 117
Andrea Holmes – Binghamton – 116
Jalesa Jones – Detroit - 114
Keisha Hampton – DePaul - 113
Michelle Kurowski – UMBC – 113
Megan Richardson - Cal State Fullerton – 112

ALLEN IN THE TOP 10
Senior Lauren Allen now has 322 career helpers and is in ninth place in the school history. Next up on the list for her to pass is Katie Solner at 348.

GETTING OFFENSIVE
With the 82 points in their last game, the Titans have now tallied 70 or more 11 time this season, with nine of those games occurring in the last 16 contests.

Since Dec. 1, the Titans are averaging 68.4 points per game (20 games).

That offense has also helped Detroit post an 14-6 record in that span.  

In Detroit's first six games, it was averaging just 57.1 points per game, and all of last year, Detroit topped 70 points just six times.

During this stretch, the Titans tallied a season-best 90 points against IPFW on Dec. 18, 87 at Ball State and 83 against Loyola.

The 90 points (53 in the second half) were the most by Detroit since posting 90 in a winning effort at Milwaukee last season and the most UDM has scored at home since a 94-67 victory against Cleveland State on Jan. 12, 2002.

REBOUNDS LEADING TO POINTS
The Titans' presence down low has led to some easy buckets in the paint as well as a plethora of second-chance points.

On the season, Detroit owns a 774-482 advantage in points in the paint.

Detroit dominated the inside against IPFW to the tune of a 62-26 advantage.

A few other games where the Titans have shown their size was against Bowling Green (28-10 margin), at Ball State (46-26), at Youngstown State (36-20), at #9 Green Bay (30-8) and at Wright State (38-14).