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DETROIT -- It was simply a dominating defensive performance for Detroit as the Titan women's basketball team advanced to the Horizon League Semifinals with a 79-43 victory over Cleveland State on Wednesday evening.

Detroit – seeded second in the league - improved its record to 19-12, the most wins for UDM since the Titans went 23-7 in 1997, head coach Autumn Rademacher's last year as a player and the only time Detroit made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

With the win, the Titans advance to their second Horizon League Semifinals in the last three years and will play #3 Wright State on Friday in Green Bay. Game Time is set for 6:00 p.m. (EST).

UDM held the Vikings to just 23.6 % from the field on 13-of-55 shooting, while forcing 18 turnovers. The Titans tallied a season-high 14 steals in the process with three players posting three apiece. The 13 first-half points were the fewest Detroit has allowed in a half, while the 13 total field goals matched a season-low by an opponent – accomplished by CSU in the Titans road victory in Cleveland.

Five players scored in double figures led by freshman Shareta Brown's (Pontiac, MI/Grand Blanc) 19 points. She was ninth in the nation in field goal percentage (55.7%) coming into the game and improved on that by hitting 6-of-9 from the field. She also had three rebounds, a block and a steal over 24 minutes of play.

Senior Jalesa Jones (Detroit, MI/Pershing) was 7-of-12 finishing with 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals, while senior Lauren Allen (Rochester Hills, MI/Rochester) hit six of her seven shots ending with 13 points, grabbed six boards and also coming away with three assists and three steals.

The Titans raced out to a 34-11 lead at the half holding the Vikings (12-19) to just 3-of-23 from the field and just two points in the last 15:24. In fact the Vikings last field goal in the half came at the 15:41 mark to cut the Titan lead to 11-9.

From there, the Titans outscored CSU, 23-2, the rest of the half shooting 51.7% from the field (15-of-29), while forcing 11 Viking turnovers.

Sophomore Megan Hatter (Howell, MI/Howell) posted 12 points, five boards and a pair of helpers and steals. It was her first game in double figures since tying her season high of 16 points in a home win against Wright State on Jan. 21 – a span of 11 games. Junior Chanahl Putnam (Almont, MI/Almont) had 10 points off the bench to go with three steals, while junior Yar Shayok (Ottawa, ON/Hillcrest) tallied five points and six boards.


Detroit shot 54.5% from the field, connecting on 30-of-55 and held a rebound advantage over the Vikings, 38-29. UDM also dished out 20 assists and owned the paint outscoring CSU, 40-14.

Both the semifinals and the championship will be held at Green Bay, with the top-seeded Phoenix winning its quarterfinals contest over Valparaiso, 77-53. The HL semifinals are set for 6 and 8:30 p.m. (EST) on Friday with the title game televised live on ESPNU on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. (EST).

Game Notes:
Detroit now leads the all-time series, 34-11, and swept all three games from Cleveland State on the year…UDM is now 19-3 against the Vikings at home…Detroit advances to its 12th semifinal all-time and the first since the 2009-10 season, when the third-seeded Titans downed Loyola and fell to Butler… The 36-point victory was the biggest by the Titans in a Horizon League Tournament game since defeating Wright State by 39 (86-47) in a quarterfinals contest in 1997…The 43 points allowed were the fewest by Detroit in a HL tournament game since beating UIC, 63-43, in a first-round match-up in 2003…The Titans have now won a home playoff game in all four years under Coach Rademacher…Titan second leading scorer Senee Shearer (11.4 ppg.) attempted just one shot and had one point in 15 minutes…Detroit is now 7-0 on the year and 24-8 in her career when Allen scores in double digits…Detroit is also 8-0 on the year when Hatter pulls down five or more rebounds… Hatter had scores just seven total points against Cleveland State in the two regular season meetings and seven points in the first half alone.