The Basics
Final Score: Detroit Mercy 85, Valparaiso 60
Records: Detroit Mercy 5-7 (1-0 HL), Valparasio 5-7 (0-1 HL)
Location: Detroit, Mich. (Calihan Hall)
DETROIT (12/29/2016) -- The Titans have had some big quarters during head coach
Bernard Scott's tenure but none may have been as complete as Detroit Mercy's third quarter against visiting Valparaiso in the Horizon League opener for both teams.
The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team used a 30-6 scoring advantage in the third quarter Thursday evening, playing well both offensively and defensively, and never looked back, rolling to an 85-60 triumph over the Crusaders from Calihan Hall.
The Titans (5-7 overall) improved to 1-0 in Horizon League play with the victory, winning their conference opener for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign. The win was five years to the day since Detroit Mercy's last victory in its league opener, a 72-60 victory over Butler from Calihan Hall.
Detroit Mercy got off to a quick start again on Thursday. The team has performed well in first quarters in 2016-17 and that was no different with the Titans scoring the first 12 points of the contest. The Titans led 12-0 at the 4:40 mark of the first quarter after
Kelsey Mitchell converted on a lay-up deep in the paint.
Junior forward
Brianne Cohen, who scored a game-high 22 points and added four blocks, scoring nine points in the opening quarter to help stake the Titans to a 21-13 advantage. Valparaiso chipped away at the advantage and took its only lead of the game, 28-27, with 4:52 left in the second stanza.
Anja Marinkovic would make the lead short-lived, drilling a 3-pointer from the wing to give Detroit Mercy the lead back and the Titans would hold a 38-34 halftime edge. Cohen had 13 points and three blocks in the first half, while junior guard
Nicole Urbanick added three 3-pointers and had 10 points for the Titans.
Like the first quarter, Detroit Mercy came out on fire after the halftime break, scoring the first 11 points of the third quarter to open a 49-36 lead. Cohen scored seven points during the stretch, many of the buckets coming off assists from senior guard
Rosanna Reynolds, who finished the game with a game-high seven helpers.
Detroit Mercy didn't let up on the offensive or defensive ends, forcing Valparaiso into tough looks and contested shots, while the red, white and blue continued to convert on offense. The Titans had an 18-2 run to open the third quarter after
Kelsey Mitchell scored two of her 12 points to put Detroit Mercy up 20 points, 56-36.
The Titans kept the pressure on and what was a four-point halftime lead was 28 by the end of the stanza. A steal by Reynolds and lay-up by
Gracie Roberts was the final bucket of the quarter that staked the Titans to a 68-40 advantage. Detroit Mercy held the Crusaders to 1-of-17 shooting in the third quarter, while sinking 50.0 percent of shots themselves and adding 11 free throw makes in the third.
The red, white and blue led by as many as 33 points during the contest and the game was never in question after the third quarter.
Detroit Mercy tied its season-high with 25 assists and turned the ball over just 11 times. The Titans shot 43.5 percent from the floor, the seventh time this season that the squad has shot 40 percent or better.
Cohen led four players in double figures with 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting, while Marinkovic added 16 points off the bench, making all eight of her free throw shots. Urbanick finished with 13 points and Mitchell had 12 points. Reynolds totaled seven assists, six in the second half, while
Lola Ristovski and Roberts each had three steals as the Titans totaled 11 thefts in the contest.
Detroit Mercy also had a season-best nine blocks, with Cohen tying her career-high with four rejections. The Titans grabbed 47 rebounds in the contest, 30 of them after halftime and were just barely out-rebounded by the Crusaders, 48-47.
The whistles were active as the two teams combined to shoot 57 free throws. The Titans were 19-of-32 from the free throw line.
The Titans held the Horizon League's leading scorer entering the game, Dani Franklin, to just 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Franklin led the Crusaders in points. Detroit Mercy forced Valparaiso into 19 turnovers.
Titan News & Notes
• The win marked the largest margin of victory on the season (25 points).
• It was
Brianne Cohen's second 20-point game of the season and 10th of her career.
• She has two games of four blocks against Valparaiso in her career.
• Reynolds had five or more assists for the ninth time this season.
•
Haleigh Ristovski moved into a tie for ninth on the all-time blocks list (78).
• Marinkovic has scored in double figures in four of her last five games.
•
Zoey Oatis connected on the first points in her collegiate career.
• Detroit Mercy has scored 80 or more points in four games this season; Titans are 2-2 in those games.
• The Titans also had 25 assists against Minnesota earlier in 2016-17.
• The 11 steals also tied a season-high. Detroit Mercy also had 11 steals against Bradley.
• Detroit Mercy has shot 40 percent or better in each of its past three games.
• The Titans are 12-7 in the Horizon League under coach Scott. It was the 20th win of his career.
• Detroit Mercy improved to 16-10 all-time against Valpo and 3-1 under coach Scott.
Up Next
The Titans return to the court Saturday, hosting UIC from Calihan Hall at 1 p.m. ET. The game against the Flames (0-1 HL) is the opener of a doubleheader with the Titan men's basketball team. Watch the game live on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN Applications as well as locally on WADL TV-38 with
Denny Kapp calling all of the action.
