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DETROIT (3/7/2013) --The Detroit Titans closed out the home regular season with another win as the Titans took advantage of a few Youngstown State injuries to claim a 62-48 victory over the Penguins on Thursday night at Calihan Hall.

The win moved Detroit to 16-11 on the season and 9-6 in the Horizon League, keeping the Titans alive for a No. 3 seed in the upcoming Horizon League Championship. Detroit can get that No. 3 seed with a win on Saturday at Valparaiso. A loss by the Titans and Detroit will have to look for Loyola falling to UIC and the right set of tiebreakers to fall in place at the fifth seed so the red, white, and blue can jump the Ramblers.

The victory was also No. 11 at home for Detroit, the second-straight year the Titans have won 11 home games and tying for the third most home victories in a season.

Sophomore Shareta Brown recorded her 12th double-double of the year and 24th of her career with a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds, connecting on 8-of-12 from the field. Junior Senee Shearer tallied 17 points and pulled down five rebounds, while sophomore Audrey Matteson pitched in seven points and five boards.

YSU was already playing without starter Karen Flagg and second leading scorer Heidi Schlegel and then lost Horizon League Player of the Year candidate Brandi Brown midway through the first as the four-year starter injured her leg and did not return. Even with the loss, the Penguins (21-8, 11-5 HL) found out that they would be the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament thanks to Green Bay defeating Loyola.

Detroit and Youngstown State traded the lead early on and the Penguins led 8-6 at the 15:28 mark when the Titans stormed in front with seven-straight points. Brown hit two free throws in that span and Shearer's first trey of the game made it 13-8.

YSU came back to knot it up at 13-all and then 16-16, but Detroit went on a 9-0 run after that. Shearer started that by hitting all three of her free throws after she was fouled and then back-to-back layups from Brown and Shayok gave Detroit a 23-15 advantage. Brown then crashed the glass for a pair of offensive rebounds and her put back pushed the lead to nine, 25-16, with 3:46 remaining.

Detroit eventually extended its lead to as many as 10, 29-19, and went into the break with a 29-21 lead.

UDM shot just under 50% in the first stanza hitting 11-of-23, while outrebounding the Penguins, 17-9.

Detroit went into double digits to start the second half as Shearer drove the lane for a layup, but the pesky Penguins fought back to get within six, 32-26, at the 16:54 mark. UDM then ran off six straight to raise its lead to 12 and eventually pushed it to 13, 44-31, midway through the final period on a layup from senior Demeisha Fambro and two free throws from Matteson.

Youngstown State once again rallied to cut the Titan lead to just six, 47-41, with 7:18 on the clock, but Detroit nullified any chance of a comeback, slowly building its lead back up on the strength of a 13-4 spurt. Brown had five in that stretch and the final dagger came from the long ball as Shearer's third triple saw UDM open its biggest lead of the day, 60-45, with just over two minutes left.

YSU had just seven points in the final 7:09 and none in the last 1:50 as Detroit sealed the win.

The Titan defense held the Penguins to 28.3% shooting (15-of-53), while going 52.4% (22-of-42) themselves, including 57/9% in the second half. Detroit completely dominated the boards, 40-22, and also forced 13 turnovers.

Fambro finished with six points, seven rebounds, and four assists while Shayok netted eight points.

The Titans will close out the regular season on Saturday as Detroit visits Valparaiso. Game time is set for 1:05 p.m. (ET) a chance from the original 2:35 start.

Game Notes:
The win was No. 16 on the year assuring the Titans of their first back-to-back winning seasons since 2001 and 2002…Detroit has now won eight of the last 10 against Youngstown State and leads the all-time series 18-14… Brown was fifth in the nation in field-goal percentage coming into the game (57.5%)… The Titans have a +43 rebounding margin against its opponents in the last two games… Detroit is 14-2 this year when leading at the half and 16-0 when they are leading with five minutes left…UDM has held its last two opponents to 25.5% shooting (28-of-110) from the field.