The Basics
Final Score: UIC 63, Detroit Mercy 62
Records: Detroit Mercy 14-11 (10-4 HL), UIC 5-21 (2-13 HL)
Location: Chicago, Ill. (UIC Pavilion)
CHICAGO, Ill. (2/16/2017) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team used a furious fourth quarter rally to come back and take the lead in the final minute of Thursday's contest at UIC, but the Titans couldn't pull off the comeback in a 63-62 defeat to the Flames.
Trailing by as many as 11 points early in the fourth quarter, Detroit Mercy started to chip away, using a 7-1 run to pull to within five points, 57-52, with 6:12 left in the contest. The game was back-and-forth for several minutes until the Titans cut the UIC lead down to two points, 61-59, after junior
Brianne Cohen converted on a lay-up with 54 seconds left.
On the ensuing play, senior
Rosanna Reynolds took a charge at the other end, giving the ball back to the Titans. Reynolds was then fouled at the other end and went 1-of-2 from the free throw line to make the score 61-60 UIC with 33 ticks left. After a UIC timeout, junior
Nicole Urbanick swiped the inbounds pass and went all the way, giving the Titans the lead, 62-61, on her fast-break lay-up with 20 seconds remaining.
The Flames had a couple of looks at the rim in the final 10 seconds and Flames guard Terri Bender was fouled with 3.2 seconds left on a shot attempt. She made both free throws at the line to give the Flames a 63-62 edge. Detroit Mercy used its final timeout to draw up one more play.
The Titans had a good look on its final play with Cohen receiving the ball on the far side of the court on a pass from senior
Haleigh Ristovski. She had a lane to the rim, but her lay-up was just a little too strong and fell off the iron. A follow-up attempt came up short as time expired.
The loss snapped Detroit Mercy's four-game win streak. The Titans (14-11 overall) fall to 10-4 in league play and sit in third place.
The Titans were led in scoring by Reynolds, who finished with a game-high 22 points. Cohen scored seven of her 17 points in the last quarter.
Haleigh Ristovski and
Kelsey Mitchell each had seven rebounds for the Titans, while Reynolds and sophomore
Gracie Roberts both had four dimes for Detroit Mercy.
Detroit Mercy shot 37.0 percent in the contest and made just four shots from beyond the arc, three of them from Reynolds. The Titans were 18-of-27 from the free throw stripe and held the edge in rebounds, 40-38. Both teams had 18 turnovers in the contest.
The Titans used a strong first quarter to take a 17-7 lead over UIC. Freshman
Ashley Miller sank a jumper with 25 seconds left in the stanza to put Detroit Mercy up 10. The Flames used a strong run in the second to take the lead. Much of the latter of the second quarter was back-and-forth, but Detroit Mercy earned a two-point halftime advantage, 31-29, after Reynolds sank a triple from the wing with under 10 seconds left in the half.
UIC earned a lead heading into the fourth backed by a 19-11 scoring advantage in the third quarter. Detroit Mercy was 4-of-17 from the floor in the third stanza. The Titans shot just 33.3 percent in the second half overall. Detroit Mercy went 2-of-11 from 3-point range in the first half and was 4-of-16 from downtown in the contest.
Reynolds tied the all-time Titan mark for games started at 122, matching former Titan standout Jalesa Jones. Reynolds has started every game in her career. Reynolds also broke Jones' mark in career assists at the beginning of the month.
Haleigh Ristovski is just one rebound shy of fifth place all-time. She has 797 total rebounds in her career, just one back of Faith Cyr (798). Ristovski would be only the fifth Titan in school history to reach 800 career boards with three more. She would also become the first player with 800 points, 800 rebounds and 300 assists.
On Tap
Detroit Mercy visits Valparaiso on Saturday for a 2:30 p.m. ET contest from Indiana. The game is set to be streamed live on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN Applications. The Titans return home Monday for Senior Night from Calihan Hall, with Detroit Mercy hosting first-place Wright State at 7 p.m.
