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BOCA RATON, Fla. (11/30/2013) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team came out firing on all cylinders as the Titans built up a double digit lead and held on to defeat the Georgia Southern Eagles, 82-79, in the consolation game of the Florida Atlantic Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday.

UDM (2-6) shot a season-high 51.8% (29-of-56) with four players reaching double figures. Senior Senee Shearer led the way with 22 points, while tacking on four rebounds and four assists as she was named to the All-Tournament Team. Senior Megan Hatter and junior Ellisha Crosby added 17 apiece with Hatter recording seven rebounds and tying her career-high with five assists. Freshman Megan Galloway was also a load on the offensive ending finishing with a season-high 16 points and pulling down seven rebounds with one block.

The Titan offense also did a great job of not turning the ball over ending the contest with 17 assists – the second most this season - and a season-low 10 turnovers. Detroit was able to even the battle of the glass, 35-35, and was 8-of-17 from three and 16-of-22 at the free throw line.

Detroit led by as many as 12 on the day, but Georgia Southern (1-6) came back to make it a one-point game, 72-71, with 1:31 left. The Eagles hit a three to trim the deficit, but Crosby responded to the comeback attempt by nailing one of her own with 1:11 remaining. The teams then traded baskets, but Crosby was able to split a pair of free throws to give UDM a 78-73 lead with just 20 seconds on the clock.

A three-point play by the Eagles once again made it a one possession game, but Hatter calmly stepped to the line to sink a pair and it looked like that would do it, but the Eagles' Lacie Dowling – who led all scorers with 26 points and had eight 3-pointers – hit Georgia Southern's 11th trey of the game to make it 80-79 with just two seconds remaining and Hatter was able to seal it away swishing another two from the charity stripe.

UDM led early as seven-straight points gave the Titans a 9-3 lead just four minutes into the game. The Titans – who connected on six of their first 12 shots compared to just 1-of-12 on Friday – then opened a double-digit lead at 18-8 at the 12:47 mark as sophomore DaVonna Bradford and Galloway had back-to-back layups.

The Eagles then went on a 21-6 run over the next five minutes as Georgia Southern caught fire from outside hitting four 3-pointers during that stretch to take a 29-24 lead. It was still a five-point deficit, 34-29, with 5:40 left in the half when the Titans came back alive offensively led by Shearer.

First she had a bucket plus the foul and then she tallied one from behind the arc to get the red, white and blue within one, 36-35, with four minutes left in the stanza. After a GSU score, Shearer drained a three to knot it at 38-38 and Detroit went into the break up by two, 42-40, as Crosby was able to get inside for a score with just one tick left on the clock.

Detroit started the second half strong as both Shearer and Galloway had a basket and a foul for the old fashioned three-point play and the Titans led by eight, 48-40. Georgia Southern cut that to three, 48-45, but a 9-0 run ensued which allowed UDM to open its largest lead of the contest, 57-45, with 11:33 left.

Another Eagles run trimmed the advantage down to three, 60-57, but a huge trey from Hatter denied that to get any closer and another trifecta by Shearer extended the Titans' lead to 68-59, with 4:32 remaining as the Titans hung on to win.

Bradford scored a career-high eight points and had six rebounds and a career-best four assists in making her first collegiate start. Freshman Haleigh Ristovski was the only other Titan to score on the day hitting her only shot of the game.

Georgia Southern stayed in the game by hitting 11 3-pointers in the contest, while shooting 46.3% from the field.

UDM will now get ready for another tournament weekend as the Titans play in the Toledo Invitational next week, Dec. 6-7, at Savage Arena. Detroit opens with host Toledo on Friday at 7:00 p.m., before facing Chicago State on Saturday at 2:00.

Game Notes:
This was the first career meeting between Detroit and Georgia Southern, and just the second career meeting between UDM and any Georgia school… UDM is 1-3 all-time against the University of Georgia… The Titans are now 2-1 all-time against schools from the Southern Conference… UDM ended an 11-game losing streak with in-season tournament games as its last win was over New Hampshire in the 2006 Lady Luck Classic hosted by Virginia Tech… Shearer now has 161 career 3-pointers, passing Brigid Mulroy for sixth place in school history… Hatter also had five assists against Cleveland State in the 2012 Horizon League quarterfinals win… With Hatters 17 points, she now has 397 in her career passing her sister Heather Hatter who had 395 between 2006-09… The last time Detroit shot over 50.0% in a game was against Wright State last year (50%, 29-of-58) in the HL Championship quarterfinals… The win was the 85^th in head coach Autumn Rademacher's career, just eight away from the school record of 93 by her former coach in college Fred Procter (1990-96).

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