The Basics
Final Score: Detroit 80, Milwaukee 76
Records: Detroit 15-14 (11-7 HL), Milwaukee 18-11 (12-6 HL)
Location: Detroit, Mich. (Calihan Hall)
DETROIT (3/5/2016) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team has shown its clutch factor all season long in close games and did so once again Saturday afternoon, scoring 28 points in the fourth quarter to earn an 80-76 win over Milwaukee in the regular season finale at Calihan Hall.
Detroit clinched a winning record for 2015-16 campaign with its win and improved to 15-14 overall and 11-7 in the Horizon League. The Titans have also secured at least the No. 4 seed in the Horizon League Championship and can finish as high as third in the final league standings.
Sophomore forward
Brianne Cohen finished with a career-high 33 points, the highest in a single game this season by a Detroit player. She sank eight free throws in the first quarter and finished 15-of-16 from the free throw line. The 15 free throw makes was one off the school record.
Cohen sank all eight of her free throws attempted in the first quarter and scored 10 points in the opening stanza. Milwaukee started the game 2-of-12 from the field, but rallied to hold a 20-17 lead after one quarter. Milwaukee opened a 30-21 lead, forcing a Detroit timeout, but the Titans came back to within two points, scoring nine of the next 11 to cut the deficit to 32-30. The final three points came on a
Lola Ristovski's triple off an assist from big sister
Haleigh Ristovski.
Detroit trailed at the half, 37-33. Cohen had 16 points in the opening 20 minutes for the Titans, which shot 40.7 percent in the first half.
Rosanna Reynolds opened the second half with a 3-pointer, but picked up her third foul of the game roughly a minute later and had to exit the game. Detroit pulled to within three points, 53-50, after
Nicole Urbanick converted on a pair of free throws, but Milwaukee scored six of the final eight points in the frame to lead after three, 59-52.
In the fourth quarter, Detroit found its offensive groove. Urbanick opened the stanza with back-to-back lay-ups, the second of which she turned into an old-fashioned 3-point play. Cohen followed with a lay-up of her own. Milwaukee continued to keep pace on the other end, but Detroit pulled to within two points, 67-65, after
Brittney Jackson saw her 3-point shot bounce high off the rim and in through the net.
Jackson followed with a jumper to pull Detroit to within two again and the Titans tied the game, 69-69, on Cohen's lay-up with 4:16 left. Detroit took its first lead of the game since the first quarter, 72-71, after Reynolds sank a lay-up with 3:39 remaining. Milwaukee's Sierra Ford-Washington sank a lay-up and Reynolds followed by splitting a pair of free throws as the teams had their eight tie of the game, 73-73, with 2:31 left.
After a Milwaukee turnover, Reynolds continued her strong fourth quarter, sinking another lay-up to five Detroit a 75-73 lead. Milwaukee's Alexis Lindstrom hit a triple to put Milwaukee in the lead, 76-75, but Cohen followed with a lay-up off a feed from Urbanick to put Detroit in front, 77-76, with 47 ticks left.
The Panthers missed a lay-up on the other end and were forced to foul. Reynolds, the second-best free throw shooter in the Horizon League, calmly hit both free throws with 16 seconds left and after two timeouts by Milwaukee, the Panthers were forced into a tough 3-point look, which didn't find the rim. Milwaukee fouled again and Cohen, who had made 14 straight free throws to start the game, clinched the victory by making 1-of-2 to put Detroit up 80-76 with 1.7 seconds left.
Cohen's 15 free throw makes were a season-high for Detroit. She became the 13th player in school history to surpass 100 free throws made in a season and with her 15 makes, she moved into a tie for fourth all-time in single-season history with 113.
Haleigh Ristovski had a game-high 12 rebounds, including 10 on the defensive end. She surpassed Yar Shayok's single-season school record for defensive rebounds and now holds the record with 238.
Urbanick tallied 15 points and Reynolds posted 12 points for the Titans. Jackson added seven points and three assists for Detroit.
Combined, the two teams were very effective from the free throw line, going 34-for-37 (91.8 percent). Detroit shot 53.5 percent in the second half and finished 47.3 percent for the game. The Titans were 23-for-26 from the charity stripe (88.5 percent). Milwaukee finished with 20 offensive rebounds, but had just one more rebound than the Titans, 40-39.
Jenny Lindner led Milwaukee (18-11, 12-6 HL) with 20 points and three steals.
Titan News & Notes• Detroit improved to 9-0 when scoring 80 or more points and 15-2 when shooting 40 percent or better.
• The Titans improved to 7-2 in games decided by five points or less.
• Against Milwaukee this year, Detroit was 42-for-47 from the free throw line (89.3 percent).
• Detroit won both games against the Panthers this season, scoring 89 and 80 points against them.
• The Titans set a single-season record for 3-pointers with 223, surpassing the 221 made last season in 2014-15.
•
Nicole Urbanick became the third Titan in school history to sink 80 3-pointers in a season.
• Cohen has scored in double figures in 21 of 27 games off the bench this year.
• It was Cohen's first career 30-point game. Cohen's previous career-best was 26 points.
• Detroit also improved to 7-1 when Cohen scores 20 or more points. She has six 20-plus point games in her past nine.
•
Nicole Urbanick had the previous season-high in points with 32 against Eastern Michigan in December.
• Two of the top four shooting games this season have come against Milwaukee.
• Detroit hasn't lost two-straight games since Dec. 30 and Jan. 2.
Up NextThe Titans will be the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the upcoming Horizon League Championship next week. Detroit is set to play in a first-round game on Thursday in Green Bay against either UIC, Valparaiso or Cleveland State. Game times are yet to be determined. The four-day tournament runs from Thursday through Sunday, March 10-13.
