DETROIT (9/27/2018) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team officially began its 42nd season Thursday morning with its first day of practice from Calihan Hall. Detroit Mercy enters its fourth season under head coach
Bernard Scott in 2018-19.
The red, white and blue are busy preparing for its first game on Nov. 6 against Michigan-Dearborn from Calihan Hall.
"We've been working all summer long on some of the stuff we went over today in practice, so it was good to see them come out, ready and focused and give us the effort we were looking for," Scott said following the team's first official practice. "The chemistry is looking good. We brought in five freshmen and have six returners. The returners have done a good job of showing the freshmen the way and the freshmen are doing a good job of listening and also competing with those guys."
The Titans returns six letter-winners from a season ago and also welcome five freshmen to the roster of 11 players. Detroit Mercy has two seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and five freshmen.
Detroit Mercy has two seniors in 2018-19 in guards
Brittney Jackson and
Lola Ristovski. Ristovski has played in 90 career games, while Jackson has appeared in 87 over the past three seasons. The pair have combined for 143 triples across their Titan careers.
"We're still getting to know each other on the court," Jackson said. "Off the court, we know each other pretty well, but we're still trying to get to know each other's games, so we've tried to do a lot of open gyms so we can help each other out and the upperclassmen can help the freshmen."
"This summer we put in a lot of work," Ristovski added. "We were doing two-a-days and sometimes three-a-days. We got in the gym a lot just so we could get to know each other a little better and have good team chemistry, especially with having five new freshmen. It's basically a brand new team and I think we're going to do pretty well."
Also returning are juniors
Ashley Miller (30 games, team-high 25 blocks) and
Zoey Oatis (29 games, team-best 30 steals), sophomore
Lexey Tobel (8.0 points per game), who earned Horizon League All-Freshman Team honors a year ago and redshirt freshman guard
Kayla Brown.
The five freshmen ready to make an impact are
Paige Bellman (Columbus Grove, Ohio),
Jess Bicknell (Saginaw, Mich.),
Alex Burr (Topeka, Ind.),
Sophia DiMilia (New Boston, Mich.) and
Jiera Shears (Charlotte, N.C.).
Detroit Mercy opens the 2018-19 season with a home exhibition contest for the City College Series against Wayne State on Saturday, Nov. 3 as part of a doubleheader with the Titan men's basketball squad. The Titans officially open their 42nd season at home on Tuesday, Nov. 6 against Michigan-Dearborn. The fourth annual Field Trip Day game is set for Thursday, Nov. 29 at 11 a.m. against Nebraska-Omaha.
