Gameday Central
Game Notes vs. Madonna

DETROIT (12/28/2013) -- 2013 is coming to an end so why not spend one last day of the year in historic Calihan Hall as the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team hosts Madonna in the first game of a Titan doubleheader on Monday, Dec. 30. The women will face the Crusaders at 5:00 p.m., with the men taking on Bethune-Cookman at 7:00 on Dick Vitale Court.

Titan fans can follow every UDM game this season through the women's basketball GAMEDAY CENTRAL page located on the Titans Athletic Website that will keep fans one click away from all the action. This page will feature links for live stats (audio and video when applicable) as well as links for all the latest info while also making it easy to find the Titans on social media and to purchase photos and game tickets. The Game Day Central page also carries all the information on each opponent from who is leading the all-time series to who won the last game.

Detroit will look to end 2013 on a positive note as injuries and a young line-up have the Titans at 3-9 so far on the season. The game will also serve as the last tune-up before the Horizon League slate begins next Sunday at Wright State.

UDM is coming off an 84-73 setback to IPFW as the Mastodons knocked down 12 three-pointers on a day that saw senior Senee Shearer reach 20 points for the seventh-straight game, tying a school record. Shearer ended with a team-high 23 points and senior Megan Hatter tallied 18 with five rebounds for Detroit.

The match-up with nearby Madonna is the final contest of a three-game homestand, but after next week's trip to Wright State, the Titans will open another three-game home swing with Cleveland State (Jan. 9), Oakland (Jan. 11) and UIC (Jan. 16) all visiting the Motor City.

Tickets are just $6 for adults and $4 for children and senior citizens, while all students get in free with a UDM student ID card. For more information on tickets, CLICK HERE or call the Detroit Ticket Office at (313) 993-1700.

DETROIT VS. MADONNA
This is the second-straight season that Detroit and Madonna will meet during the regular season and just the third time in the history of the two programs, which lie just 16 miles apart from each other.

Both games have come in Detroit with the Titans posting two huge wins with a 90-43 victory last year and an 83-17 triumph in 1978.

ABOUT THE CRUSADERS
Madonna - an NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) institution - comes into the game at 5-8, 4-3 in the WHAC (Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference).

The Crusaders have dropped four in a row, including a shootout in their last game as they fell to Olivet Nazarene, 148-102, on Dec. 20.

Madonna is averaging 73.7 points and has four players in double figures led by Rachel Melcher, who tops the team in scoring (14.7), rebounding (6.9) and assists (3.2). Chelsea Williams is tallying 14.4 ppg., while Tori Duffey is netting 14.1 ppg. Justice Dean is the last player in double figures at 10.4 a night, but she has missed the last eight games.

AGAINST THE GREAT LAKES STATE
UDM is 105-68 all-time against teams from the Michigan, and 11-8 since the start of the 2010-11 season.

VERSUS NON-CONFERENCE FOES
Detroit is 17-6 against non-conference foes at home dating back to the 2009-10 season, which includes four wins in last year's run to the WBI title.

UDM VS. NON-DIVISION I SCHOOLS
Detroit is 40-5 all-time against non-Division I schools.

The last loss by UDM to a non-Division I program was on Nov. 30, 1987, as the Titans fell to Lake Superior State, 84-53.

20 X 7
A school record will be on the line in the game as senior Senee Shearer looks to make it eight-straight games with 20 or more points.

She is currently tied with Detroit Hall-of-Famer and all-time leading scorer Cassandra Pack, who did it in seven straight during the 1983-84 campaign.

Shearer's latest effort was a team-high 23 points against IPFW as she put in 16 in the second half to reach the feat.

Against Eastern Michigan on Dec. 15, she was 10-of-24 from the field and tied her season and career high with six 3-pointers, while also tying her career-best with seven rebounds - all in just 27 minutes before she fouled out.

She started the offensive charge with a game-high 28 points against Ball State on Nov. 23, tying her career high with six 3-pointers, and then racked up 21 against Rhode Island - where she drained another five treys - and a team-high 22 points against Georgia Southern at the FAU Thanksgiving Classic. She continued at another tournament with a team-high 24 points at Toledo and then had 20 versus Chicago State in the Toledo Invite.

Earlier in the year, she tallied a career-high 29 points at Western Michigan on Nov. 14 - tying her career best with six 3-pointers.

She now has 16 career games reaching the 20-point plateau and eight this season.

During this streak, she is averaging 23.7 ppg., shooting 40.7% (57-of-140 FG) and 40.3% from three (31-of-77) with 3.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.

Shearer currently leads the team and is second in the Horizon League (Kim Demmings, Wright State - 22.3 ppg) and 35th in the nation in scoring at 20.8 ppg.

TOP 10 IN THE COUNTRY
According to the latest NCAA stats, released last Monday, senior Senee Shearer leads the Horizon League and is second in the nation with 3.67 three-point field goals per game. She is also 12th in the HL in three-point field-goal percentage (36.7%).

Her 44 three-point field goals are 14 more than the next player in the HL in Demmings' 30.

AMONG THE LEADERS
Detroit is currently second in the Horizon League and 81st in the nation in scoring at 73.3 ppg., behind only Wright State's 80.2.

UDM is also third in the HL and 125th in the nation in assists per game (14.3), fifth in the conference and 101st in the country in assists-to-turnover ratio (0.92), and fourth in rebounding (39.8).

TRY AND STOP ME
Talk about offensive firepower as junior Ellisha Crosby recorded a career-high 33 points against Eastern Michigan on Dec. 15. The 33 points is the second most by a HL player on the season, trailing only Wright State's Kim Demmings' 35 at Murray State.

It is also the most points by a Titan since Shareta Brown had 34 at EMU last season, and is tied for 18th in school history and the most ever by a first-year player, passing junior Dominique Dixon's 32 against Milwaukee on Jan. 2, 2011.

Crosby was a career-best 11-of-23 from the field, 1-of-3 from three and a career-high 10-of-13 at the line, netting 19 in the first half and 14 in the second playing all 40 minutes.

The first-year Titan has scored in double digits in every game this season and has topped 20 on three occasions, including in back-to-back games as she had a team-high 24 against Chicago State.

She is currently sixth in the Horizon League in - and 111th in the nation - in scoring (17.5) and 10th in the conference with 1.8 three-pointers per game.

SHE'S A SHOOTER
A three-point threat might not be sufficient enough to describe Senee Shearer's game.

In her career, Shearer has attempted 784 shots and 518 of them have been from behind the arc. That means 66.1% of her career looks have been from downtown.

Shearer now has 178 career 3-pointers, fifth in school history and just 10 in back of Patrice Martin (1989-93) for fourth place.

She will have a chance at the top spot trailing head coach Autumn Rademacher (1993-97) by 23 for second and school record-holder Michelle James (1998-02) by 39 (217).

NEARLY PERFECT
Senior Megan Hatter has missed just four free throws all season and is currently second in the Horizon League shooting 87.9% (29-of-33) at the line this year.

SHEARER EYEING 1,000
The UDM 1,000-point club might soon be adding another member as senior Senee Shearer is just 89 points away from becoming the 19th player in school history with 1,000 career points. She enters the match-up with 911 career markers.

Shearer has already scored 249 points this season in 12 games, more than the 231 she totaled in 20 contests last year. She missed the first 14 games of her junior season recovering from a torn ACL that she suffered in the 2012 Horizon League Championship.

COACH RAD LOOKING FOR A RECORD
Head coach Autumn Rademacher is in her sixth year coaching her alma mater, where she has an 86-87 record and is currently in third place in UDM history in wins, just seven away from the school record held by her coach in college Fred Procter (93, 1990-96) and five away from DeWayne Jones (91, 1983-90).

It is not like Coach Rademacher took over a top of the line program as UDM was coming off back-to-back last-place finishes and just 11 total wins from 2006-08.

In her first five years, Detroit has posted three winning seasons, a 20-win campaign, five-straight years with a conference tournament victory and a trip to the WNIT in 2012 - the first postseason action for UDM since the 1997 NCAA Tournament - and a WBI Championship last season, the first postseason title since 1981.

A RUDE HOST
The Titans might have dropped four home games this season, but UDM was 16-1 at home last year - averaging 76.6 ppg - with a +16.6 scoring margin. In fact, Detroit's 16 home victories were tied for the second most in the nation with Kentucky trailing only North Carolina's 17-1 mark.

The 16 wins were also a school record breaking the 13-0 mark of the 1986-87 squad.

MORE ON CALIHAN MAGIC
Over a longer stretch of time, the Titans have posted a 28-8 ledger in their last 36 home games dating back to the 2010-11 campaign, as well as 43-16 in their last 59 home games.

UDM is also 51-27 in Calihan Hall since head coach Autumn Rademacher returned to her alma mater in 2008.

In their 37-year history, the Titans have enjoyed a 279-148 (.657) home court record.

HAT'S OFF TO YOU
Senior Megan Hatter posted her first career double-double against Ball State on Nov. 23, and then tallied her second vs. Chicago State on Dec. 7 with a career-high 21 points and tying her career mark with 11 rebounds. Hatter was also a career-best 8-of-13 from the field.

Just three weeks ago, she recorded a then career-high 17 points and tied her career best with five assists in a winning effort over Georgia Southern. In that contest, she was 5-of-8 from the field with a personal-best three 3-pointers and was also a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line with seven boards.

Against Ball State, she posted her first double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, and was actually scoreless with just two caroms in the first half of that game before erupting in the second period.

With 18 points and five rebounds against IPFW her last time out, Hatter has now scored in double digits in five-straight games and six of the last seven.

Hatter also now has 10 games this season - and 31 in her career - with five or more rebounds and is currently second on the squad and 15th in the HL in rebounding at 6.5 per night.

In her last five games, Hatter is averaging 16.2 ppg., and a team-best 8.0 rpg., shooting 48.1% from the field (26-of-54) and 90.0% from the line (18-of-20).

IT'S TAY TIME
Tayelor McCalister had a fine start to her sophomore year with career highs in nearly every category in her first four games, before an injury forced her out of five straight.

She returned to the hardwood against Chicago State on Dec. 7 and handed out five assists, while scoring seven points and tying her career best with four steals.

She then nearly had a triple-double against Eastern Michigan on Dec. 15 with eight points and a career-high eight rebounds and nine assists.

Against Michigan back on Nov. 16, McCalister was in double figures with a career-high 14 points (7-9 FG) to go with six rebounds and four assists.

On the year, she is averaging 9.7 points - fourth on the team - a team-high 4.4 assists and 2.3 steals as well as 3.9 rebounds per game.

ANOTHER CAREER MARK
Senior Senee Shearer might have started the season a bit slow hitting just 12-of-21 at the free throw line (57.1%), but she is now 29 for her last 41 (70.7%) moving her career free throw percentage to 74.2%, 11th in school history.

On the season, she is 41-of-62 for 66.7%.

HOLDING THEIR OWN
While the Titans feature a guard-oriented roster and offense, they have held their own in the paint being edged by just 16, 364-348, so far on the season.

ON THE DL
Sophomore Rosanna Reynolds will miss the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury early in the game at Western Michigan.

Reynolds was selected to the Horizon League All-Newcomer Team last year after starting all 34 games and averaging a team-high 35.3 minutes per game, tallying 7.8 points – fifth on the team – along with 3.3 rebounds, and a team-high 4.0 assists per game (135).

She also finished fifth in the Horizon League in assists (120th in the nation), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7), and minutes played.

A GALLOWAY-IN EFFORT
Freshman Megan Galloway just keeps on improving, showcased by a great effort at the Toledo Invite from Dec. 6-7, where she scored 14 points and tied her season high with eight rebounds against the host Rockets.

Galloway – who didn't play in the season opener and was limited to just four minutes in the second game of the year against NAIA member Lawrence Tech – has started seven of her last eight games in the middle for UDM, missing the EMU contest with an injury.

At the FAU Thanksgiving Classic from Nov. 29-30, she tallied 11.5 points and 6.5 rebounds, while shooting 9-of-14 (64.3%) from the field in tallying a season-high 16 points with seven rebounds and a block against Georgia Southern and seven points and six rebounds with two assists against Rhode Island Those numbers led her to be tabbed the HL Freshman of the Week on Dec. 1.

In her last five games, Galloway is averaging 8.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and is 17-of-31 from the field (54.8%).

ROLLING DOUBLES
Junior Ellisha Crosby has been a double-double machine this season as she collected her team-high fifth double-double of the year with 33 points and 10 rebounds against Eastern Michigan on Dec. 15.

The five double-doubles are tied for second in the Horizon League, two behind UIC's Ruvanna Campbells, and tied for 37th in the country.

Her other double efforts on the season have come against Rhode Island (18 pts., 10 rebs.), vs. Ball State (14 pts., 10 rebs.), at Western Michigan (24 pts., 12 rebs.) and at Canisius (15 pts., 11 rebs.).

In the game at Western Michigan, the 12 boards were a career best.

She currently ranks second on the team and sixth in the HL in scoring (17.5), while leading the team and standing 10th in the conference in rebounding (7.4).

CROSBY KNOCKING 'EM DOWN
Junior Ellisha Crosby set a career mark with six 3-pointers against Chicago State on Dec. 7 en route to a team-high 24 points.

It is the third time this season that a Titan has knocked down six three's in a game as senior Senee Shearer has done it twice.

QUICK OFFENSE
Freshman Reyna Montgomery came off the bench to net a season-high 11 points against Eastern Michigan on Dec. 15, going 5-of-5 from the field and 1-of-2 at the line in just 10 minutes of action.

Her previous season high was six versus Lawrence Tech and Montgomery was just 7-of-38 (18.4%) shooting on the year entering the game.

COMING ALIVE
Sophomore DaVonna Bradford only played in seven games as a rookie, but the second-year forward is now starting to find her role.

She has now posted at least five rebounds in five of her last seven games, with career highs of eight against Ball State and Toledo. She also recently tallied a career-high nine points with five boards in just 16 minutes against Chicago State.

In the last seven games, she is averaging 5.0 points and 5.6 rebounds per game to go with five assists and five steals.

RISTOVSKI PROTECTING THE BALL
A lot of freshmen have trouble with turnovers, but Titan rookie Haleigh Ristovski is doing a good job of protecting the ball.

She currently has a 17-4 assist-to-turnover ratio with a season-best four assists in the close setback against Ball State on Nov. 23.

Ristovski has also done a good job hitting the glass averaging 3.3 rebounds per game, with a season-high eight caroms against Michigan, seven against Eastern Michigan and six versus Chicago State.

MIX & MATCH
Due to the different injuries that have hit the Titans this season, UDM has had seven different starting line-ups through its first 12 games of the year.

The Titans have also been forced to play as many as four freshmen on the floor at the same time this year and those four rookies surrounded a first-year transfer.