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GREEN BAY, Wisc. -- The Detroit Titans women's basketball team gave it all they had and left everything out on the court, but playing shorthanded in the second half, UDM fell to #10/10 Green Bay, 66-53, in the Horizon League Championship on Sunday at the Kress Events Center.

Detroit (20-13) came into the game as the #2 seed in the tournament and held a nine-point lead in the first half, but the Phoenix (30-1) would stage a late first-half comeback and continue it in the second to earn the win and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

With the Titans finishing second in the Horizon League during the regular season, the red, white and blue will be in the postseason for the first time since 1997 as it earned the Horizon League's automatic bid to the WNIT. That bracket will be officially released late Monday night. It is the first WNIT appearance in school history.

Freshman Shareta Brown (Pontiac, MI/Grand Blanc) had a team-high 22 points and nine rebounds and was named to the 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 she has now scored 583 points on the year, breaking the Titan record for the most points in a season – which was held by Cassandra Pack (576 in 1987, 22.2 ppg.).

Sophomore Senee Shearer (Detroit, MI/Pershing) netted 14 on 5-of-8 shooting, including four 3-pointers, before leaving the game with an injury early in the second half.

The second-seeded Detroit squad was down early to the top-seeded Phoenix, but would come back to knot the score on a few occasions, including at 15-all with 11:11 left in the first as Shearer connected on a three. That trey started a 9-0 run as she added a jumper and that was followed by a free throw from Brown. Another Shearer triple ensued to give UDM a 21-15 advantage at the 7:59 mark.

The Titans ran their lead to as many as nine on two occasions, the latest at 28-19, with 3:05 remaining when Green Bay ended the half on an 8-2 run.

Sophomore Megan Hatter (Howell, MI/Howell) opened the second half with a trifecta and Detroit was ahead, 33-27. UDM continued to be out in front until the Phoenix tied it at 35-all with 16:55 left when Brown stepped to the line and hit a pair of free throws to put the red, white and blue ahead again.

After that, Green Bay went on a 12-2 run to take an eight-point lead, 47-39, midway through the stanza. The Phoenix ran its lead to 12, 55-43, but the Titans never gave up and cut that to a seven-point deficit, 57-50, with back-to-back scores from junior Yar Shayok (Ottawa, ON/Hillcrest) and Brown with 3:20 on the clock.

That was as close as the Titans would get with Green Bay closing out the game.

Senior Jalesa Jones (Detroit, MI/Pershing) handed out five assists and now has 508 for her career heading into the WNIT. Hatter finished with three points and five rebounds, while senior Lauren Allen (Rochester Hills, MI/Rochester) had three points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

The Titans will now prepare for its postseason destination that will be announced late Monday night. With the men in the NCAA Tournament, it marks the first time in school history that both programs will be playing postseason basketball in the Motor City.

Game Notes:
The crowd of 3,383 was the largest in HL Championship history…The Titans have now finished runner-up in the Horizon League Championship five times (1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2012) with all five setbacks to Green Bay…Brown broke the Horizon League Championship tournament record with 25 made free throws (passing the 20 by UDM's Jocelyn Boyd and in 1997 and Green Bay's Chandra Johnson in 2000) and ended the tournament 25-of-28 (89.2%) from the free throw line…With four more treys, Shearer moved into second place on the all-time school list with 75 and trails only Brigid Mulroy's 92 in 2010…Jones Cheryl Williams (1978-82) for the school record with 121 total starts…