DETROIT (11/22/2018) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team is spending the Thanksgiving holiday in New York City this season and preparing to play a Saturday non-conference matchup at Manhattan College. The opening tip-off is set for 2 p.m. from Draddy Gymnasium in Riverdale, N.Y.
The game may be seen live via the Jasper Sports Network for a subscription fee. It's the first meeting in women's basketball between Manhattan and Detroit Mercy.
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Quick Hits
• Detroit Mercy visits Manhattan College for the first time in program history. The two have never played in women's basketball. New York City is the home of Titan senior
Brittney Jackson, who hails from Brooklyn and went to Nazareth HS.
• Freshman guard
Sophia DiMilia scored 11 points in Monday's game at Michigan. It was her first double-figure scoring effort in her third career game. Classmate
Jess Bicknell totaled 14 points in her fourth career game against Miami (OH) at home.
• The Titans have shot 40-percent or better in each of the past two contests -- shooting a season-high 43.5 percent at Michigan on Monday. Detroit Mercy was 15-of-16 from the line and 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) from 3-point range.
• Titan freshman forward
Paige Bellman leads the Titans in rebounding (6.4), steals (11) and blocks (7), while sophomore forward
Lexey Tobel leads the team in scoring at 12.2 points per game.
Last Time Out
Three Titans scored in double figures, including freshman
Sophia DiMilia's first career double-digit scoring effort but the Titans fell at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on Monday, 95-62. DiMilia, along with
Brittney Jackson and
Zoey Oatis, all had 11 points in the contest, while
Lexey Tobel added nine points.
Detroit Mercy used a big second-quarter run to take a 37-34 lead over Michigan in the stanza. After trailing early in the second, the Titans went on a 20-6 run, hitting several 3-pointers during the stretch to earn a lead over the host Wolverines from the Crisler Center.
DiMilia hit back-to-back triples during the run and Tobel added six consecutive points as well, the last three to give them the edge with 4:44 left in the frame. In the game, Detroit Mercy shot 43 percent and 15-of-16 (93 percent) from the free throw line.
Freshmen Tally First Double-Digit Scoring Games
Titan freshman guard
Jess Bicknell hit 6-of-12 shots and tallied her first career double-digit scoring game with 14 points against Miami on Friday, Nov. 16. Classmate
Sophia DiMilia then notched her first career double-figure scoring effort at Michigan, knocking down two 3-pointers and sinking all three free throw attempts in scoring 11 points against the Wolverines. For Bicknell, it was her first career double-figure scoring game in her fourth contest, while it was DiMilia's first in her third career collegiate game. Bicknell is averaging 4.6 points per game, while DiMilia has scored 6.0 points per contest in her three games.
Scouting Manhattan
The Jaspers are 1-3 on the season with the lone victory coming in the season opener, 61-46, over LIU-Brooklyn. Manhattan then dropped contests to St. Francis Brooklyn, UAlbany and Stony Brook. The Jaspers are 1-1 at home this season.
Manhattan went 13-18 last season, which included a 9-9 mark in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play. The Jaspers have two players who are averaging in double figures so far in 2018-19 in D-Yona Davis (11.5 ppg) and Gabby Cajou (11.3 ppg), with Courtney Warley (9.8 ppg) also nearly averaging in double figures. Warley has led Manhattan in rebounding in all four games and is averaging 9.0 caroms per contest thus far. She has 19 offensive rebounds in four games.
Series History
The Titans and Manhattan are meeting for the first time in women's basketball. The two schools are familiar with each other, however, as the Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team plays out of the Metro-Athletic Athletic Conference against the Jaspers.
It's the first time Detroit Mercy has played in the state of New York since coach Scott's first season in 2015-16 when the Titans played at St. Bonaventure in Olean, N.Y.
Up Next
Detroit Mercy returns home for its next contest, hosting Omaha for the fourth annual Field Trip Day from Calihan Hall on Thursday, Nov. 29. The game is set to start at 11 a.m. and admission into the contest is free.
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