Game Notes at Butler

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DETROIT -- Only two games remain in the regular season as the Detroit women's basketball team hits the road for a pair of games in Indiana, starting with a match-up against Butler on Thursday. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. (EST) at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Detroit is 16-12 on the year and 12-4 in the Horizon League. The Titans control their own destiny for a No. 2 seed in the upcoming Horizon League Championship and can achieve that with a pair of wins to close out the season. As it stands now, UDM is guaranteed a top-three seed in the tournament and a home playoff game next Wednesday, Mar. 7, at 7:00 p.m.

The Titans swept their final homestand of the season last week by downing Cleveland State (65-55) and Youngstown State (67-64). Freshman Shareta Brown posted back-to-back double-doubles in the wins, while sophomore Senee Shearer hit a career-high six 3-pointers against YSU, ending with 20 points – her seventh 20-point game on the year.

Brown – a candidate for numerous awards including HL Newcomer of the Year, All-League and All-Region – still leads the team in scoring at 17.0 points per game, fifth in the Horizon League. She is still eighth in the nation with a 55.9% field-goal percentage and eighth in the Horizon League with 8.8 rebounds per night.

Senior Jalesa Jones leads the HL with 5.0 assists per game and is now third on the team in scoring netting 7.5 ppg. She has scored in double digits in three-straight games and has handed out five or more assists six times in the last seven contests.

Butler is 12-15 on the year and 8-8 in the Horizon League. The Bulldogs are currently in fifth place in the conference, but can move up to fourth or fall to sixth depending on this week's results.

Detroit will close out the regular season on Saturday as the Titans visit Valparaiso in a game that is now set to start at 1:05 p.m. (EST).

With the men playing in the HL quarterfinals on Friday, the Athletic Department is sponsoring a fan bus that will come down and watch the game on Friday as well as the women's contest on Saturday and the men's game on Saturday night (if they advance to the semifinals). Limited seats remain so for more information, call 313-993-1700 or click here.

THE DETROIT-BUTLER SERIES
Thanks to its 72-60 win right before the New Year, Detroit now leads the overall series, 33-27.

Butler has still won 15 of the last 18 meetings, but UDM has tallied wins in two out of the last three games, including at Butler last year, 55-51.

UDM is 12-17 all-time in Indianapolis. The win last year ended a five-game losing streak at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

This is the 60th career meeting between the two schools, the second most for an opponent in Titan history behind the 66 games played between Jesuit rivals UDM and Loyola.

ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
The Bulldogs were picked to finish fourth in the Horizon League Preseason Poll and have been around the .500 mark for most of the year. The Bulldogs enter the game at 12-15, 8-8 in the HL. BU had won 5-of-6 until dropping a pair of games in Wisconsin last week.

Butler has two players in double digits in scoring with Sarah Hamm topping the team with 11.1 ppg., as well as with 5.5 rebounds per game. Devin Brierly is second on the squad at 11.0 ppg.

As a team, Butler is averaging 58.2 points per game, while allowing 60.0.

LAST TIME AGAINST BUTLER
Behind a devastating 30-4 second-half run, the Detroit women's basketball team downed Butler, 72-60.

Freshman Shareta Brown led the way with a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds, including 19 points and nine rebounds in the second half. The rookie was 7-of-11 from the field and 9-of-14 from the free throw line.

Senior Jalesa Jones tallied 17 points, four assists and three steals, while junior Yar Shayok just missed a double-double ending with 11 rebounds and nine points.

Detroit took control of the game with a 30-4 offensive surge in the second half. Down by five, 38-33, at the 17:07 mark, the red, white and blue turned it on with Brown leading the way. She scored 16 points during that charge.

The defense stepped up holding Butler to 1-of-9 from the field with five turnovers.

The Titans led 60-40 with 8:47 left after that and ran its lead to as high as 21, 63-42, before Butler chipped away to get within 11, 65-54, with 2:46 remaining.

UDM shot 42.1% from the field compared to 33.9% from Butler, while outscoring the Bulldogs in the paint, 32-20.

GOOD NUMBERS VS. BUTLER
Junior Yar Shayok has had some good outings against the Bulldogs averaging 9.6 points and 10.7 rebounds per game in seven career match-ups. She has a pair of double-doubles, four games in double-digit scoring and three games with 10 or more boards.

Senior Jalesa Jones is tallying 9.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals in nine games against Butler. She has been in double digits in scoring four times and has four games with four or more assists.

TITANS CLINCH HOME PLAYOFF GAME
The Titans are currently tied for second place in the Horizon League at 12-4 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 or with one win and one WSU loss.

The Titans are already guaranteed to finish no lower than third in the conference, giving UDM a bye in the opening round of the Horizon League Championship as well as a home playoff game in the quarterfinals. That game is set for Wednesday, Mar. 7, with a 7 p.m., start.

TITANS VICTORY TOTAL RISING
With Detroit downing Youngstown State, the Titans now have 16 victories for just the second time since the 2001-02 season.

The Titans were 17-14 in the 2009-10 season in head coach Autumn Rademacher's second year at Detroit. They were also 16-14 during the 2001-02 campaign.

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

She has tallied 11 double-doubles on the year and has been in double figures in scoring 24 times in the Titans' 28 games.

She has also crossed the 20-point plateau 10 times with a season-high of 31 at Loyola on Jan. 7.

Her 10 20-points games are tied for third among HL players, while her 10 double-doubles are fourth.

With that 31-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.

LUCKY NUMBERS
Detroit is 7-0 on the year when sophomore Senee Shearer nets at least 20 points in a game. UDM is 6-0 on the season and 23-8 when senior Lauren Allen scores in double figures and 20-6 all time when she dishes out five or more assists.

The Titans are also 12-4 on the year and 34-20 when senior Jalesa Jones has five or more assists.

JONES LOOKING TO CRACK TOP 20 IN SCORING
While senior Jalesa Jones will always be known for her heady point-guard play, she has been a threat offensively scoring 889 points in her career. She is just one point away from moving into 20th place on the all-time Titan scoring list alongside Terri Ford (1986-90). Carrie Banks (1996-000) is 19th with 893, while Cheryl Day's (1988-90) 928 is good for 18th place.

ANOTHER RECORD BITES THE DUST
Senior Jalesa Jones was not the only Titan breaking a record in the win over Cleveland State.

Freshman Shareta Brown broke her second Titan freshman mark of the season passing Titan Hall-Of-Famer Cassandra Pack for the most points in a season by a freshman. Brown now has 476, moving ahead of Pack's 453 she totaled during the 1983-84 campaign.

Back on Jan. 7 in a win at Loyola, Brown broke the freshman single-game scoring record with 31 points.

The previous high was 30 by Michelle DeHaan on Jan. 15, 1994, at Evansville.

Brown currently leads the team in scoring at 17.0 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.

SHERAR MAKING TEAMS PAY
Sophomore Senee Shearer is 47-of-56 from the free throw line on the year, hitting at 83.9%. That number currently stands fourth in Titan history in a season and if she had enough to qualify (she is averaging 2.0 free throws per game and the HL qualifier is 2.5), she would be leading the Horizon League.

A NEW TITAN RECORD
Senior Jalesa Jones began the season in seventh place on the Titan all-time assists' list, but with a feed late in the game to freshman Shareta Brown during UDM's win over Cleveland State on Feb. 23, Jones took over as the Titan leader.

She had seven assists in the game and now has 494 in her career, passing the likes of Autumn Rademacher (439), Jocelyn Boyd (451) and Titan Hall-Of-Famer and previous record holder Mary Lillie Cicerone (486).

As a freshman, Jones had 84 assists, while collecting 159 as a sophomore and 112 last year. She has already posted 139 this year.

Her 139 assists on the season also give her another top 10 season record moving into 10th place, just two away from eighth and three behind seventh.

She is already fourth on that list with 159 helpers back in 2009-10.

For her career, she is tallying 4.1 apg.