The BasicsFinal Score: Michigan 88, Detroit 61
Records: Detroit 0-2, Michigan 2-0
Location: Detroit, Mich. (Calihan Hall)
DETROIT (11/15/2015) -- A sibling rivalry took center stage Sunday when the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team hosted the University of Michigan at Calihan Hall. All three Ristovski sisters went head-to-head and 1,313 in attendance watched the Titans fall to the Wolverines, 88-61, on Dick Vitale Court.
Detroit junior
Haleigh Ristovski (Sterling Heights, Mich. / University Liggett) and freshman
Lola Ristovski (Sterling Heights, Mich. / University Liggett) went against elder sister and Michigan senior Madison Ristovski in the contest. All three players played high school basketball together at University Liggett at nearby Grosse Pointe Woods. It's the first time that all three of faced each other in a collegiate basketball game.
The Titans battled early on as freshman guard
Brittney Jackson (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Nazareth) started the Titans off with a three followed by another three from
Haleigh Ristovski. Junior
Rosanna Reynolds (Canton, Mich. / Divine Child) was responsible for assisting on both of those triples.
UDM trailed by just three points, 19-16, after the first 10 minutes. Michigan forced the Titans into 13 first-half turnovers, several in the second quarter, to take a 49-27 halftime lead.
Detroit played much better in the second half and had just three second-half turnovers overall, while forcing Michigan into 11 turnovers. The Titans came out of the break with back-to-back buckets, by sophomore
Chea Taylor (Bellbrook, Ohio) and Reynolds, who scored 13 of her team-high 19 points in the second half.
In all, the Titans were out-scored by just five points in the second half and played evenly with Michigan (15-15) in the fourth stanza.
Reynolds and sophomore guard
Nicole Urbanick (Grosse Ile, Mich. / Divine Child) combined for 36 points on 14-of-29 shooting for the Titans.
Haleigh Ristovski led the Titans with eight rebounds and also had four steals, three assists and a block. Reynolds had three assists of her own with four rebounds and a team-best three blocks, her second-straight game with three rejections.
Lola Ristovski had the best game in her young Titan career, sinking all four free throws and finishing with nine points to go along with one block, one steal and one assist. She had the most points out of the three sisters as Madison posted seven points and Haleigh finished with five points. All three were on the court at several points during the contest and all lined up on the same side for a three throw attempt in the second half.
Detroit shot the long ball much better in its second game, finishing 8-of-22 for over 36 percent. Urbanick, who tallied 17 points, accounted for four of those 3-pointers. The Titans also got to the line than the Wolverines as they connected on 11-of-16 free throw attempts. The Titans forced Michigan into 19 turnovers.
Freshman center Hallie Thome paced the Wolverines as she posted 21 points, six rebounds and three blocks.
