DETROIT (11/3/2019) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball squad opens its 43rd season as a program Tuesday evening, hosting old conference foe Loyola (Ill.) at 7 p.m. ET from Calihan Hall. The game is set to be seen live on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN Applications with the Voice of the Titan women's basketball team,
Denny Kapp, calling all of the action.
Tickets for the contest are $6 for adults and $4 for children and seniors. The red, white and blue are playing Loyola, an old conference opponent, for the 70th time in women's basketball.
Detroit Mercy, entering its fifth season under head coach
Bernard Scott, has just two home games in the month of November and after the home opener, plays the next four away from Detroit, next returning for a Saturday, Nov. 23 contest against Akron from Calihan Hall.
On The Court:
- The Titans open their 43rd season as a women's basketball program and fifth season under head coach Bernard Scott.
- Detroit Mercy is 2-2 in home openers in coach Scott's tenure and 2-2 in season openers during his four previous seasons with the Titans.
- The red, white and blue are meeting Loyola for the 70th time in women's basketball as the Rambers are old MCC and Horizon League opponents; The Titans have a 47-22 lead in the series.
- The Titans and Ramblers played last season in Chicago, with Detroit Mercy leading for the majority of the contest before Loyola earned a 52-43 win late on Nov. 12, 2018.
- Senior guard/forward Zoey Oatis is the team's top returning scorer at 8.1 points per game; She also ranked fourth in the Horizon League in steals per game (1.8), totaling 49 thefts last season.
- Detroit Mercy has welcomed eight newcomers overall, five freshmen and three Division I transfers in Nicole Johanson, Maxine Moore and Aly Reiff. All three transfers were granted waivers by the NCAA to play in the 2019-20 season.
- The Titans are a relatively young team with 10 underclassmen (five freshmen, five sophomores) and just three upperclassmen, including two seniors.
- The red, white and blue were picked to finish ninth in the 2019-20 Horizon League Preseason Poll.
Season Preview
The Titans enter their fifth season under head coach
Bernard Scott and have eight new players on the squad this season, including five freshmen and three Division I transfers. Coach Scott expects the 2019-20 season to be a different one.
"The end goal for us is to get back to being a team in the Horizon League that people have to respect," Scott said at 2019 media day. "The past two years, we haven't been that team. We're been a team that has struggled, a team that really needed to improve and I think we've done that with the players that we've brought in. Even though it's eight new players, they are eight players, along with the returners that are together, all in for the program and want to be here. ... This year we are ready to prove that we are a better team."
Back are senior
Zoey Oatis (8.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg), who ranked fourth in the Horizon League in steals a season ago and had a team-best 49 thefts, which was the most for a Titan player in coach Scott's tenure as head coach. Also returning are sophomores
Jess Bicknell (7.6 ppg),
Alex Burr (2.7 ppg, 15 blocks) and
Jiera Shears (4.6 ppg, 77.1 FT%). A talented group of five freshmen joined the squad this summer, four guards in
Annika Corcoran,
Markyia McCormick,
Abbie McDowell and
Sylare Starks and forward
Bridgid Fox.
The transfers coming in are 6-foot-5 forward
Nicole Johanson, local product and forward
Maxine Moore and guard/foward
Aly Reiff, who played the last two seasons at Xavier. Johanson spent two seasons at Valparaiso, while Moore played her first collegiate season at Western Michigan and was named the team's Sixth Player of the Year as a freshman, playing in 29 games.
Freshmen Five
The Titans feature five new freshmen from four different states for the 2019-20. The five hail from Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania and all are set to see their first playing action this season. Guards
Annika Corcoran (Chardon, Ohio),
Markyia McCormick (Pickerington, Ohio),
Abbie McDowell (Tecumseh, Mich.) and
Sylare Starks (Fort Wayne, Ind.) are joined by forward
Bridgid Fox (Altoona, Pa.).
Corcoran was named the North Coast League Offensive Player of the Year as a senior for Gilmour Academy and was Division II All-Ohio First Team. McCormick was First Team All-Conference as a junior, averaging 14.8 points per game. McDowell was two-time Division 2 All-State Honorable Mention and four-time All-Conference for Tecumseh High School in Michigan. Starks was a two-time Second Team Indiana All-State honoree and Honorable Mention Indiana Basketball Coaches Association All-State selection as a senior for Homestead HS in Fort Wayne. Fox averaged double-doubles as a junior and senior for Altoona Area HS in Pennsylvania and was a two-sport athlete, also playing volleyball.
Trio of Transfers
Three Division I transfers joined the Titans prior to the 2019-20 campaign in local product
Maxine Moore (Southfield, Mich. / Detroit Country Day), who transferred in after one season at Western Michigan, as well as junior guard/forward
Aly Reiff (Xavier) and 6-foot-5 forward
Nicole Johanson (Valparaiso). Moore won three Class B state championships in high school with Detroit Country Day and played in 29 of 30 games with WMU during her freshman season and was named the team's Sixth Player of the Year following the season. She averaged 4.1 points and 2.1 rebounds, shooting 44.1 percent from the field.
Reiff, a native of South Whitley, Ind., played two seasons at Xavier, playing in 57 games total and all but one game a season ago. The junior averaged 2.3 points and 1.5 rebounds in 13.7 minutes per game as a sophomore for the Musketeers, sinking 37.8 percent of her 3-point shots. Johanson, a redshirt sophomore, enters her third season of college basketball and saw time in three games with Valparaiso last season under a new coaching staff. She was a 1,000-point scorer at Herscher High School in Illinois.
Tough Non-Conference
Detroit Mercy has another strong non-conference schedule in 2019-20 with the Titans playing five tournament squads and four teams that had better than 20 victories a season ago. A look at the seven non-league opponents that finished with a better-than .500 record in 2018-19:
Opponent -- 2018-19 Record
Michigan State (Big Ten, Away) -- 21-12
Butler (Big East, Away) -- 23-10
George Mason (A-10, Away) -- 16-14
Akron (MAC, Home) -- 16-15
Sacred Heart (NEC, Neutral) -- 19-13
Tennessee Tech (OVC, Neutral) -- 22-11
Toledo (MAC, Home) -- 21-12
Scouting Loyola (Ill.):
- The Ramblers went 13-18 a season ago, which included a 6-12 mark in Missouri Vallery Conference play, and enter their fourth season under head coach Kate Achter.
- Loyola had one exhibition prior to the 2019-20 season, using a strong defensive effort in a 71-27 victory over St. Francis (Ill.) last week.
- The Ramblers return three players who scored in double figures a season ago -- Abby O'Connor (14.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg), Janae Gonzales (11.4 ppg) and Ellie Rice (11.0 ppg).
- Loyola was picked to finish seventh in the MVC Preseason Poll, a spot where they finished in the conference in 2018-19.
- The team opens the 2018-19 season with five of six contests on the road.
Defensive Front
The Titans finished the 2018-19 campaign fourth in the Horizon League in steals with 232, which was the most since the 2010-11 season, when Detroit Mercy had 236 thefts.
Zoey Oatis was fourth in the Horizon League in steals per game (1.8), finishing with a career-best 49 steals. The red, white and blue finished with 10 or more steals in a contest 10 different times in 2018-19. The Titans also held opponents under 60 points 10 times last season.
Team (200+ steals in past 10 seasons)
236 -- 2010-11
232 -- 2018-19 (highest under coach Scott)
219 -- 2009-10
218 -- 2011-12
214 -- 2014-15
201 -- 2012-13
Individual (45+ steals in past 10 seasons)
54 -- Yar Shayok (2009-10)
54 -- Jalesa Jones (2009-10)
51 -- Darianne Seward (2014-15)
49 -- Zoey Oatis (2018-19)
46 -- Rosanna Reynolds (2016-17)
46 -- Yar Shayok (2010-11)
Field Trip Day Set for Dec. 5
The Titans are set to host their fifth annual Field Trip Day from Calihan Hall on Thursday, Dec. 5. against old Horizon League foe Valparaiso. Detroit Mercy has hosted nearly 12,000 fans including the first game against UIC on Feb. 11, 2015. The Titans had the third-largest crowd for a women's basketball game in school history with the third version of Field Trip Day in 2017 with 4,127 fans.
3,106 fans -- Nov. 29, 2018 vs. Omaha
4,127 -- Nov. 13, 2017 vs. Bowling Green
3,117 -- Nov. 30, 2016 vs. George Mason
1,623 -- Feb. 11, 2015 vs. UIC
11,973 --
TOTAL
New Addition to Coach Scott's Staff
A familiar face has joined the Titan staff in assistant coach
Kayla DeCriscio, who was previously a graduate assistant for the Titans in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons under coach Scott during his tenure. DeCriscio spent last season as the Director of Basketball Operations with Niagara University. Returning for Detroit Mercy is associate head coach
Oties Epps, who enters his second season as the top assistant to coach Scott. Recruiting coordinator and assistant coach
Molly Bateman is in her fifth season on coach Scott's staff, having spent all five seasons with the Titans during Scott's tenure.
Also joining the staff is
Victoria Moreland as a graduate assistant. Moreland, a 2019 graduate of Pitt-Johnstown, played a season of collegiate basketball with DeCriscio, who also was a graduate and women's basketball student-athlete of Pitt-Johnstown.
Da'Jourie Turner enters her second season as a graduate assistant for the program to round out coach Scott's staff.
Horizon League Final Four Moves to Indy
The 2020 Horizon League Championships for both men's and women's basketball has moved from Detroit to Indianapolis, where the Horizon League is headquartered. All 10 teams are slated to be involved in the tournament with the first and second round games set for campus sites, hosted by the higher seeds. The semifinals and championship contests will be held on March 9-10, 2020 from the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis. The women's championship game is set for 12 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10 and the game will be seen live on ESPNU.
Titans Picked Ninth in 2019-20 #HLWBB Preseason Poll
The Titans were picked to finish ninth in the 2019-20 #HLWBB Preseason Poll, which is voted on by the league's head coaches. Detroit Mercy finished with 19 points total in the poll, finishing ahead of UIC. Green Bay and Wright State each earned four first-place votes and tied-for-first in the poll with 91 points. IUPUI, Youngstown State and Milwaukee rounded out the top-five in the poll.
Up Next
The Titans have two games in the opening week of the regular season, traveling to No. 21-ranked Michigan State on Friday for the first road game of the 2019-20 season. It opens a stretch of four games away from Calihan Hall, with Detroit Mercy also hitting the road for games at Butler (Nov. 13), George Mason (Nov. 16) and Western Michigan (Nov. 20).
