The BasicsFinal Score: Detroit 80, Niagara 75
Records: Detroit 1-4, Niagara 1-4
Location: Detroit, Mich. (Calihan Hall)
DETROIT (11/29/2015) -- Head coach
Bernard Scott notched his first career win Sunday afternoon as the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team earned an 80-75 victory over visiting Niagara University at historic Calihan Hall.
Four players scored 16 or more points for the Titans, which improved to 1-4 on the season. Detroit also shot 50 percent or better in each half resulting in a 50.8 shooting percentage for the contest. Junior
Haleigh Ristovski (Sterling Heights, Mich. / University Liggett) led the way with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
The Titans were clutch down the stretch in a back-and-forth game. After Niagara tied up the game for the 10th time with 6:00 left, Detroit took a 71-68 lead on a 3-pointer by junior guard
Rosanna Reynolds (Canton, Mich. / Divine Child). The Purple Eagles would score the next four points to take a one-point lead, but Detroit would have an answer down the stretch.
Sophomore forward
Brianne Cohen (Toronto, Ont. / York Memorial) scored on a great move down low off an assist by sophomore guard
Nicole Urbanick (Grosse Ile, Mich. / Divine Child) to give Detroit a 73-72 lead with 2:18 left. Niagara had several offensive opportunities, but the Detroit defense was up to the task and freshman guard
Brittney Jackson (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Nazareth) punctuated it when she made a key steal with under one minute left. Just seconds later, Reynolds found Jackson all alone in the corner, and she hit the biggest shot of her young career, drilling the triple to give Detroit a 76-72 advantage with 36 seconds left.
Detroit would hit 4-of-6 free throws down the stretch and thwarted several Niagara comeback attempts to earn the victory.
Reynolds scored eight of her 18 points in the fourth quarter, while Cohen tallied 17 points and a game-high-tying nine rebounds off the bench. Urbanick added 16 points and a career-best four assists for Detroit. Reynolds recorded a game-high seven assists, six rebounds and three steals for the Titans.
The game was back-and-forth all the way through. The Titans went on a 6-2 run to end the first quarter as Detroit trailed by just one point, 19-18. The Titans trailed early in the second quarter, but scored seven straight points to tie the game, 25-25. The rest of the first half was back-and-forth with Urbanick tying the contest, 36-36, heading into the halftime break, after converting on a lay-up with just seconds remaining in the first 20 minutes.
Detroit went on a furious 11-0 run in the early stages of the third quarter, highlighted by back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers by
Haleigh Ristovski and two straight by Urbanick. Detroit led 49-39 just 2:55 into the third quarter. Niagara would answer with a run of its own, but Detroit led after three quarters, 62-56. Niagara pulled even early in the fourth quarter, however, setting up a thrilling finish on Dick Vitale Court.
The Titans shot an efficient 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from deep and connected on 10-of-16 free throw attempts. They also limited themselves to only nine turnovers throughout the contest.
Jackson, who finished with two triples in the contest, tallied a season-high eight points to go along with three assists. Sam Lapszynski posted 27 points for Niagara (1-4).
Detroit and Niagara each finished with 35 rebounds for the contest, while NU had the edge in assists, 22-20. The Titans held Niagara to a much lower shooting clip in the second half (40 percent) after Niagara made 15-of-27 shots (55.6 percent) in the first 20 minutes. Detroit also led in bench points, 25-10.
Quotable"We needed to get this win to get our confidence back. I think we've played hard enough to win games, in the ones we've lost, but like I said, we've had one bad quarter in each game. Today, you saw what we are capable of if we stay focused the entire time." -- Head coach
Bernard ScottTitan News & Notes• Two players finished just one point below their career-highs:
Haleigh Ristovski (19 points) and
Nicole Urbanick (16 points).
• Reynolds has scored at least 15 points in all five games this season. Reynolds is 153 points away from the 1,000-point plateau for her Titan career.
• Cohen scored in double figures off the bench for the second straight game. She has 36 points in the last two games after tallying eight points in the first three.
• It's the second-straight contest that Detroit has committed nine turnovers or less. The Titans had eight turnovers against St. Bonaventure.
• It was just the second meeting between the two programs. Niagara earned the win on its home court just last season.
• Detroit improved to 1-2 at home this year. The Titans' next three contests are all played at Calihan Hall.
Up NextCoach Scott will lead his troops back to Calihan Hall on Wednesday night as they will take on Cincinnati in a 7:00 p.m. tilt. It'll be the second game of a four-game homestand for the Titans.
