The Basics
Final Score: Northern Kentucky 68, Detroit Mercy 56
Records: Detroit Mercy 3-16 (1-7 HL), Northern Kentucky 4-14 (3-5 HL)
Location: Highland Heights, Ky. (BB&T Arena)

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. (1/25/2019) -- Senior guard Brittney Jackson scored 15 of her career and game-high 20 points after the halftime break Friday afternoon, but the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team fell 68-56 on the road at Northern Kentucky from BB&T Arena. The game was played in front of 3,751 fans in NKU's Kid's Day game. It was Detroit Mercy's third game tipping off at 11 a.m. this season.

Junior wing Zoey Oatis added 12 points, six rebounds, four steals and two blocks, freshman guard Jess Bicknell tallied nine points and freshman forward Paige Bellman recorded eight points, three blocks and three steals for Detroit Mercy. Jackson made 8-of-14 shots for the Titans, hitting 3-of-6 shots from beyond the arc. She added two of Detroit Mercy's 13 steals in the contest.

Jackson, who had tied her career-high for points with 16 in the Titans' previous outing against Milwaukee, scored 10 of Detroit Mercy's 20 points in the third quarter to help propel the Titans within single-digits in the third and fourth quarter. She trimmed the NKU lead to nine points, 51-42, with 1:08 left in the third after hitting a long 3-pointer.

The Titans would again get within 10 points twice early in the fourth quarter, but NKU would answer each time. After NKU went ahead by 15 points early in the fourth quarter, Jackson sank a jumper and then Bellman drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key on the fast break after Oatis swiped a ball near mid-court. The 5-0 run pulled the Titans to within 10, 58-48, with 7:18 left.

Jackson later hit her third triple of the contest to again pull Detroit Mercy within 10, 61-51, with 6:09 left. Just minutes later Bellman converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play to cut the deficit to nine, 63-54, with 3:18 left on the clock. Bicknell then scored on a long jumper with 1:53 remaining to trim the NKU lead to 64-56, but Detroit Mercy ran out of time as NKU scored the final four points of the contest.

The Norse got out to a quick start on the Titans, taking an 18-6 lead late in the first quarter. Freshman Jiera Shears then sank a 3-pointer from the wing and Oatis scored on a pair of free throws towards the end of the first frame as Detroit Mercy trailed after one, 20-12. The Norse hit on four 3-point shots in the second quarter and held a 36-22 halftime lead.

The red, white and blue continued to chip away at the Norse lead as Titan seniors scored the final 12 points in the final 3:33 of the third quarter with senior Lola Ristovski sinking all four free throw attempts and Jackson scoring eight points -- six of them on two treys. The Titans out-scored NKU in the third quarter, 20-19.

Jackson hit 3-of-4, 3-point attempts in the second half as she scored 15 of her career-best 20 points in the final 20 minutes. Oatis scored nine of her 12 points in the first half for Detroit Mercy, adding a team-high six rebounds. Oatis, who entered the game fourth in the Horizon League in steals per game (2.1), had four steals for the Titans.

Detroit Mercy shot 40 percent from the floor (20-for-50) in the contest and added five blocks as a team -- three by Bellman and two from Oatis. The Titans also had just 12 turnovers, which was the third-fewest in a game this season. The Titans were whistled for 30 fouls and a total of 50 were called in the game.

Titan News & Notes
• Jackson surpassed her previous career-high of 16 points which she accomplished twice this season. It was her third-straight game of scoring in double figures.
• Oatis notched her fifth game of four or more steals this season and 11th contest recording multiple steals. Oatis also had her 10th game of scoring in double figures.
• Bellman had three blocks in a game for the third time in her freshman season and tallied her ninth multiple-steal game of her freshman campaign (and fifth of three or more steals).
• Bellman and Oatis each became the third and fourth members of the team with 10 or more blocks this season (Ashley Miller has 11, Alex Burr has 10).
• With her three 3-pointers on the day, Jackson is just one trey shy of 14th place on the career 3-pointers made list.
• It was the Titans' ninth game of the season recording 10 or more steals in a game.
• As a team, Detroit Mercy has 170 steals on the season, the second-most in a season under head coach Bernard Scott. The Titans had 176 in the 2016-17 season.
• The red, white and blue shot 40-percent or better for the seventh time in 2018-19.
• Detroit Mercy was playing in its third Kid's Day game this season and second time in league play.
• It was the eighth career meeting between the two programs in women's basketball (NKU leads, 5-3).

Up Next
Following Sunday's game at Wright State, Detroit Mercy is back on the road next weekend, playing a pair of games in Ohio against Cleveland State on Thursday, Jan. 31 and then Youngstown State on Saturday, Feb. 2. After the finish of a four-game road swing, Detroit Mercy has five of seven contests at home to finish the regular season, starting with a Feb. 9 game against Metro Series rival Oakland.