The Basics
Final Score: Detroit Mercy 83, Youngstown State 67
Records: Detroit Mercy 16-13 (12-6 HL), Youngstown State 9-20 (5-13 HL)
Location: Youngstown, Ohio (Beeghly Center)
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (2/25/2017) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team used a strong second-half effort, scoring 31 points in the fourth quarter Saturday afternoon to pull away from Youngstown State and win on the road in its regular-season finale, 83-67. It was the second win over the Penguins this season.
With the victory, the Titans (16-13, 12-6 HL) clinched the No. 3 seed in the upcoming 2017 Motor City Madness tournament at Joe Louis Arena. Detroit Mercy is set to play Sunday, March 5 at noon against sixth-seeded Cleveland State (14-15, 9-9 HL).
In the win, junior forward
Brianne Cohen became the 21st player in program history with 1,000 career points, surpassing the milestone early in the third quarter. She finished the game with 17 points, her 12th consecutive double-digit scoring effort. Senior
Rosanna Reynolds added a team-high 21 points and nine rebounds, moving into third place on the all-time scoring list, passing Autumn Rademacher with 1,691 career points.
Senior
Haleigh Ristovski added 10 points and 12 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
Kelsey Mitchell added eight rebounds off the bench for the Titans and sophomore
Gracie Roberts tied her career-high with seven points. The Titans shot 49.2 percent (32-of-65) from the floor during the game, hitting nine 3-pointers and shooting 39.1 percent from beyond the arc.
It was a fast-paced first quarter, with few whistles blown in the opening stanza. Detroit Mercy opened the game on a 7-2 run with freshman guard
Gracie Roberts scoring the first five points of the game on a lay-up and a 3-pointer from the wing. Sophomore
Brittney Jackson followed with a triple later in the frame and Reynolds totaled four points in the first 10 minutes. The game was tied 14-14 late in the first quarter until freshman
Anja Marinkovic hit a 3-pointer off the fast break with just seconds left in the quarter.
Detroit Mercy continued its momentum into the second quarter with the Titans opening the frame on a 10-2 run and forcing YSU into a timeout. Reynolds hit a 3-pointer to force the Penguins into a timeout with Detroit Mercy leading 27-16 and 5:48 left in the second. The Penguins closed the gap in the remaining minutes of the first half, but junior
Nicole Urbanick drove to the hoop and converted on a lay-up with 32 seconds left to help give Detroit Mercy a 31-28 halftime edge.
Cohen scored nine points in the first half for the Titans, while Roberts and Reynolds each added seven. The Titans hit four 3-pointers in the first half.
The third quarter was back-and-forth with Cohen surpassing the 1,000-point milestone early in the third quarter with a jumper from the block off glass at the 8:18 mark. Detroit Mercy used a 5-0 run in the middle of the quarter with Marinkovic hitting another triple and Cohen finishing again underneath the basket to put the Titans up 42-35 with 3:49 left. YSU closed the gap, but Detroit Mercy went on a 10-4 to close out the quarter.
Reynolds sank a jumper to open the run, which was followed by a tough lay-up by Mitchell. After a YSU bucket, Reynolds again knocked down a jumper and then made a pair of free throws the next time down the court. Jackson closed out the quarter with a long step-back jumper with just seconds left before the third quarter buzzer. After three, the Titans led 52-44.
Youngstown State pulled the game to within five points early in the fourth, but the Titans made shot-after-shot in the final stanza. Urbanick and
Haleigh Ristovski connected on back-to-back 3-pointers within 35 seconds of each other to push the Detroit Mercy lead to 11 points, 64-53, with 7:00 left.
The Titans started to pull away in the latter half of the fourth quarter.
Haleigh Ristovski hit her second triple of the fourth with 4:14 left to again push the lead to 11 and Urbanick followed with a tough lay-up under a minute later as Detroit Mercy pushed its lead to 14.
Haleigh Ristovski, who scored eight points in the final stanza, notched a lay-up with just 2:59 remaining and then sank a free throw a minute later to give the Titans their biggest lead of 17 points.
Sophomore guard
Lola Ristovski closed out the scoring with a trey with just 14 seconds left on the clock. She was the seventh Titan to connect on a 3-pointer in the game. Detroit Mercy shot 84.6 percent in the final quarter, sinking 11-of-13 shots. The Titans shot 64 percent in the second half overall, scoring 52 points.
Detroit Mercy held the edge in rebounding during the contest, 44-37. The Titans also notched seven blocks and added four steals. The Titans turned the ball over just eight times in the game, the fewest all season.
Jackson and Urbanick each added for Detroit Mercy, with Jackson adding four rebounds.
Haleigh Ristovski and Reynolds each had four assists and Marinkovic sank two 3-pointers for her six points.
Titan News & Notes
• Cohen became the 21st Titan to surpass the 1,000-point milestone and second in two seasons with Reynolds doing it last year.
• Reynolds is just nine points shy of the 1,700 point plateau in her Titan career.
• Detroit Mercy improved to 7-2 when scoring more than 80 points.
•
Haleigh Ristovski became the seventh Titan in school history to start in 100 career contests.
• The 20-point game for Reynolds was the 21st of her career and eighth of the 2016-17 campaign.
•
Haleigh Ristovski tallied her 13th career double-double and the second of the season.
• Cohen had three blocks in the game. It was her third game of three or more blocks this season.
• Detroit Mercy improved to 3-1 against the Penguins under head coach
Bernard Scott.
• In the past two seasons, the Titans have gone 23-13 in Horizon League play.
• The Titans are just three 3-pointers (231) shy of the single-season record of 234, set last season.
• Haleigh Ristovski is just five rebounds shy of third place in career rebounding (841).
•
Gracie Roberts also scored seven points at Eastern Michigan in her first start as a Titan.
• Detroit Mercy improved to 14-1 when leading after three quarters.
• It was the fifth game of the season with seven or more blocks.
On Tap
Detroit Mercy prepares for the Motor City Madness women's basketball tournament next and opens play in the third day of the tournament on Sunday, March 5 against an opponent to be determined. The game will be either 12:00 p.m. or 2:30 p.m. ET from Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
