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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (1/29/2014) -- Four Titans were in double figures as the Titans had a big lead early, but Youngstown State came firing back to down the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team, 80-71, on Wednesday night at the Beeghly Center.

Senior Senee Shearer led the quartet with 17 points and five rebounds, while freshman Haleigh Ristovski came away with a career-high 15 points, five rebounds, and two blocks. Sophomore Tayelor McCalister had 14 points and added five boards and five assists and freshman Minisha Frederick-Childress tallied career-highs with 11 points and six assists.

The game was tied at 59-59 with eight minutes left when Detroit (3-17, 0-7-HL) saw Ristovski hit her career-best fifth trey of the game to push UDM ahead, 62-59. After a Youngstown State (10-9, 6-0 HL) basket, McCalister was able to knock down a jumper for another three-point lead, 64-61, but an 8-0 YSU spurt gave the home team a 69-64 lead with 4:14 left.

A three by Shearer made it 69-67 and after a Penguins' 3-pointer, a jumper by Shearer had UDM down by just one possession, 72-69, with 2:59 on the clock, but that was as close as the Titans could get it as the first place Youngstown State squad closed the game on an 8-2 spurt.

Freshman Megan Galloway posted six points and grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds and freshman Reyna Montgomery recorded six points, seven boards, and had a steal.

Detroit shot 38.9 % (28-of-72) and hit nine from long range, while Youngstown State was 26-of-77 (33.3%) with 12 from behind the arc. UDM nearly won the battle of the glass, 48-47, and totaled 15 assists on the night.

It was all offense early on as each team knocked down a pair of 3-pointers for a 6-6 game at the first media timeout. UDM then went on a 12-0 run to jump out in front, 18-6 at the 13:34 mark. Frederick-Childress started it all with a layup and then Ristovski nailed back-to-back treys. Shearer then added a layup and Galloway finished it off with a great move in the paint for the 12-point lead.

YSU stopped that run with a basket but the Titans would push their advantage to 13, 26-13, midway through the first half. The Penguins then connected on 3-pointers on three-straight possessions to trim down the UDM lead to six, 28-22, but the red, white and blue answered with eight-straight points to open its largest lead of the game, 36-22, with 6:12 remaining. Montgomery scored the first four points and Frederick-Childress and Shearer netted the last two field goals.

The Penguins then charged back with a 14-0 run to knot the score at 36-all, but a jumper from Frederick-Childress and two free throws from sophomore DaVonna Bradford gave the Titans a 40-36 lead at the break.

The Titans shot 15-of-31 (48.4%) in the first half with nine assists and just six turnovers, while YSU was 12-of-42 (28.6%), but eight of its 12 field goals were from behind the arc.

Detroit continued to lead in the second half, holding a seven-point advantage four times, the latest at 54-47 at the 13:15, but the Penguins went on a 12-5 spurt to square things at 59-59 with 7:48 left in the contest.

Detroit will return home for two straight starting with Green Bay on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. For ticket information, click HERE.

Game Notes:
Detroit still leads the all-time series, 18-15… Shearer is now five triples away from head coach Autumn Rademacher and second place in school history with her 196 career 3-pointers… UDM started the same line-up for the second-straight game, the first time that has happened since Dec. 6-7 against Chicago State and Toledo… Coach Rademacher and YSU head coach John Barnes each served as an assistant coach to current Green Bay head coach Kevin Borseth… Ristovski had just five 3-pointers coming into the game… McCalister now has eight games on the year scoring in double-digits… Galloway's previous career high for rebounds was 10 against Cleveland State… The nine 3-pointers were the most since hitting 10 against Madonna… The 11 turnovers were the second lowest on the season behind the 10 against Georgia Southern.