The Basics
Final Score: Oakland 71, Detroit Mercy 57
Records: Detroit Mercy 0-12 (0-1 HL), Oakland 6-6 (1-0 HL)
Location: Detroit, Mich. (Calihan Hall)
DETROIT (12/28/2019) -- University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball sophomore forward
Maxine Moore scored a career-high 22 points for the Titans on Saturday, but the red, white and blue fell to visiting Oakland from Calihan Hall by a 71-57 margin. It was the Horizon League opener for both squads.
Moore had a Titan season-high with 22 points and shot 9-of-17 from the floor Saturday. She added 3-of-4 makes at the free throw line and also had five rebounds for Detroit Mercy. Freshman guard
Sylare Starks and senior
Zoey Oatis each added seven points for the Titans.
The Titans shot 33.8 percent (22-for-65) from the floor in the game, while Oakland shot nearly 50-percent (29-for-60) in the contest. Detroit Mercy had just 12 turnovers in the game and had nine steals, forcing 14 Oakland turnovers overall.
The Golden Grizzlies took an early lead and led 16-8 with 1:53 left in the first quarter. Freshman guard
Annika Corcoran nailed a 3-pointer in the final minute of the opening stanza, but the Titans trailed after one, 20-12. OU took a double-figure scoring advantage late in the first half, but Detroit Mercy then scored five-straight points with Moore hitting a jump shot and sophomore guard
Jiera Shears drilling a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut the OU lead down to eight, 33-25. Moore sank the final jumper of the first half as Detroit Mercy trailed 36-28 at the halftime break.
Moore had 15 points in the second half along for the Titans. She opened the second half with a field goal in the paint as Detroit Mercy cut the deficit to six, 36-30. The Titans kept the game within six and eight points in the opening 3 minutes of the second half as off a Corcoran steal, Oatis had an easy lay-up on the fast break as Detroit trailed six, 40-34, with 7:04 left in the third stanza.
Oakland then went on a run to take a 48-34 advantage with 4:14 left in the third quarter. Moore, who had eight points in the third quarter alone, scored the final six Titan points in the third, but Detroit Mercy trailed after three, 55-40. Moore scored seven more points in the fourth quarter to up her second-half tally to 22, but Detroit Mercy was unable to cut into the deficit in the final 10 minutes of the contest.
The Titans shot 40-percent as a team in the second half of the game -- hitting that percentage mark in both quarters. Corcoran added six points, four assists and three steals for Detroit Mercy, while Oatis also had three steals for the Titans. Freshman forward
Bridgid Fox led the red, white and blue with six rebounds, while sophomore forward
Alex Burr added four caroms.
Oakland was led in scoring by forward Chloe Guingrich, who had 17 points and nine rebounds. Jalisha Terry added 15 points for the Golden Grizzlies.
Titan News & Notes
• Moore's 22 points were a career-high and a season-high for a Titan player; It was the first 20-point scoring effort since
Sophia DiMilia scored 21 points against UIC on Feb. 14, 2019.
• It was also Moore's sixth game in double figures this season -- her first with Detroit Mercy; It was her eighth career contest scoring in double figures.
• The nine field goal makes for Moore was also a season-high and the most for a Detroit Mercy player since
Jess Bicknell sank nine in last year's Horizon League opener against Youngstown State.
• Detroit Mercy's nine steals were also a season-best and the 13 offensive rebounds were the fourth-straight with a dozen or more for the Titans.
• Oatis is up to 25 steals on the season (2.1 steals per game) and entered the game third in the Horizon League in steals per game.
• It was the 30th career meeting between the two programs (series is tied, 15-15).
Up Next
Detroit Mercy returns to Horizon League play this weekend, visiting UIC on Thursday, Jan. 2 in Chicago and IUPUI on Saturday, Jan. 4 in Indianapolis in a pair of road games. The Titans are back in action from Calihan Hall on Thursday, Jan. 9, hosting Milwaukee for a 7 p.m. ET contest in Detroit.
