The Basics
Final Score: Illinois 73, Detroit Mercy 65
Records: Detroit Mercy 0-9, Illinois 8-4
Location: Champaign, Ill. (State Farm Center)
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (12/10/2017) -- Behind a strong defensive effort and a never-quit attitude Sunday afternoon, the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team battled wire-to-wire at Big Ten foe Illinois, falling in the final minutes in a 73-65 loss at the State Farm Center in Champaign.
Senior forward
Brianne Cohen had another great effort, scoring a game-high 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while adding seven rebounds and sinking all six free throws. Freshman
Lexey Tobel added 13 points and eight rebounds while senior
Nicole Urbanick and sophomore
Anja Marinkovic added nine and eight points, respectively.
The Titans showed their defensive mettle in Sunday's contest, forcing 10 first-half Illinois turnovers and holding the Fighting Illini to 25 points in the opening 20 minutes of the game. Detroit Mercy took an early 5-4 lead following a bucket in the paint by Cohen and an old-fashioned 3-point play from Marinkovic.
After Illinois took a 10-5 lead, the Titans closed the quarter on an 8-2 run with Tobel scoring five-straight points and Cohen hitting a triple from the wing in the closing seconds of the stanza. The Titans increased their defensive pressure in the second quarter, holding Illinois scoreless for the opening 4:42 of the frame.
Marinkovic had the lone field goal in the opening minutes of the second, hitting a 3-pointer early in the stanza.
Zoey Oatis converted on a lay-up off a feed from Tobel and Roberts drilled a trey late in the half as the Titans trailed at the break, 25-21. Sophomore
Ashley Miller was big in the first half, grabbing a career-best seven rebounds and adding a steal in the opening 20 minutes.
It was a back-and-forth battle again in the third quarter with the team's trading buckets. Cohen, who picked up her second foul early in the second and was held in check in the first half, scored 10 points in the third stanza alone. She scored six-straight Titan points to open the frame and Marinkovic tied the game 29-29 with two free throws at the 6:03 mark of the third.
Detroit Mercy went on a quick 5-0 run midway through the quarter with junior guard
Lola Ristovski hitting a triple off the fast break. Cohen then followed on the next trip down, converting on a lay-up as the Titans went up 34-31 and forced Illinois to call a timeout.
The score was tied four more times in the third quarter with Oatis and Tobel combining to score the final seven points of the stanza. The Titans were down just one point, 44-43, after three quarters.
Cohen opened the fourth with a lay-up, grabbing an offensive board and finishing to re-give the Titans the lead, 45-44. Illinois scored the next seven points, however, to take a 51-45 lead with 7:30 remaining. Urbanick drilled her first of two fourth-quarter triples to cut the deficit to three, 53-50, with 5:49 left. Minutes later Cohen hit a jumper and the Titans trailed by just four, 57-53, with 3:37 left on the clock.
The Titans were forced to foul down the stretch and Illinois didn't miss its free throws, hitting 14-of-15 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter alone. Detroit Mercy never quit with Tobel going coast-to-coast on a rebound and lay-up with 1:39 left, again pulling the Titans to within two possessions, 63-58. It was as close as the Titans would get, however, as Illinois displayed its efficient free throw shooting in the remaining seconds of the game.
The red, white and blue also shot well from the line, hitting 18-of-22 free throw shots for a season-best 81.8 percentage. The Titans tied their season-high with 41 rebounds, 14 of them on the offensive end. Detroit Mercy also hit seven 3-pointers while holding Illinois to only three 3-pointers.
Tobel led Detroit Mercy with her eight boards, while Miller's seven first-half rebounds were a career-high. Cohen also added seven rebounds and Roberts tallied five boards, five points and four assists for Detroit Mercy. Oatis finished with six points and four caroms.
Titan News & Notes
• Cohen went into 16th place on the all-time scoring list, surpassing the 1,200-point plateau in the contest (1,207 points).
• Cohen also moved into sixth place in career free throws made (281).
• Urbanick moved into sole possession of third place all-time in career 3-pointers made (203).
• The Titans are 38-for-49 (77.5 percent) from the free throw line in the past two games.
• Detroit Mercy tied its season-high with 41 rebounds.
• Tobel set a new career-best with eight rebounds, while Miller also reached a career-high in boards (7).
• The game was the third against a Big Ten opponent this season and first on the road.
• It was the third meeting all-time in women's basketball between the two schools and first in Champaign.
Up Next
The Titans return home for their final two non-conference games prior to the Christmas holiday, first hosting Eastern Michigan on Sunday, Dec. 17 before welcoming Toledo to Calihan Hall on Thursday, Dec. 21.
