The Basics
Final Score: Northern Kentucky 81, Detroit Mercy 63
Records: Detroit Mercy 4-25 (2-16 HL), Northern Kentucky 11-17 (10-8 HL)
Location: Detroit, Mich. (Calihan Hall)

DETROIT (3/2/2019) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team dropped its 2018-19 season finale and Senior Day game on Saturday afternoon, falling 81-63 to visiting Northern Kentucky from Calihan Hall. The Titans honored their two seniors -- Brittney Jackson & Lola Ristovski -- prior to the finale.

Freshman forward Paige Bellman led the Titans in scoring for the second-straight game, finishing one rebound shy of her second-straight double-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Junior wing Zoey Oatis added 11 points, six boards, three blocks and two steals, while freshman forward Alex Burr tied her career-high with 10 points for Detroit Mercy.

Detroit Mercy played NKU tough in the early going, scoring 20 second-quarter points to trail by just one point, 32-31, at the halftime break. The Titans trailed 17-11 after the first quarter of play, but scored the first four points of the second stanza with Jackson scoring on a lay-up and Oatis adding a tough jumper in the paint to trim the lead to two, 17-15. The Titans then knotted the game up 20-20 after freshman Sophia DiMilia sank a corner 3-pointer off a feed from Ristovski.

After NKU went ahead 30-25, Ristovski sank a 3-pointer with 2:31 left before the halftime break to pull the Titans to within two, 30-28. Oatis sank a free throw in the final 90 seconds of the half and then Ristovski added a pair of free throws on the next offensive possession to give the Titans a 31-30 advantage. Oatis had a block in the last 10 seconds of the first half, but NKU scored after an offensive rebound to hold a 32-31 edge at the break.

Bellman, who had eight points and eight rebounds in the first half, scored the first bucket of the second half as Detroit Mercy again took a lead, but NKU countered with a 10-2 run to earn a 42-35 advantage and force the Titans into a timeout. Burr would go on to sink a pair of free throws and then DiMilia added 1-of-2 from the line to cut the deficit to four, 42-38, but the Norse went on another run to go up by double figures midway through the third.

Northern Kentucky extended its lead by the end of the third quarter to as many as 20 points before Burr drilled a 3-pointer late in the third frame as Detroit Mercy trailed after three quarters, 62-45. Seven different Titans scored in the fourth quarter as Burr and Oatis each notched four points and Detroit Mercy scored 18 points in the fourth.

Detroit Mercy shot 37.5 percent in the contest and 16-for-25 (64 percent) from the free throw line. The Titans had seven steals and six blocks in the game. The red, white and blue forced NKU into 19 turnovers during the game, but the Norse shot 50.9 percent from the floor (28-of-55), including 9-of-18 from downtown.

All eight Titans scored in the contest and seven of eight players had at least six points. Freshman Jess Bicknell tallied seven points. Ristovski had six points and two steals in her final game in the red, white and blue, while DiMilia and freshmen Jiera Shears each added six points. Jackson had a team-best four assists against just one turnover in her collegiate finale.

Bellman was 5-of-7 from the floor, while Oatis went 5-for-8 on field goals in the game. Burr was 3-of-6, sinking her only triple attempt and then sinking 4-of-4 free throws.

The Titans finished with seven steals in the game to finish the 2018-19 season with 232 steals total the most since the 2010-11 campaign for the Titans. Detroit Mercy's six blocks were also tied for the most against a Division I opponent this season after the Titans had six blocks at Milwaukee last weekend.

Titan News & Notes
• Bellman scored in double figures for the fifth time this season and third time in the past seven contests.
• Bellman finished the season strong, averaging 11.2 points and 7.7 rebounds across her final seven games.
• In all, coupled with Burr's second game in double figures, Titan freshmen scored in double-digits 23 times in 2018-19.
• Oatis had two more steals on the afternoon to up her season total to a team-high 49 and also notched her 14th game of multiple steals.
• Bellman also had her fifth contest of three or more blocks in 2018-19.
• Ristovski sank three free throws to go over 100 FT makes in her Titan career; She finished her career seventh all-time in FT percentage (77.7).
• Jackson finished her Detroit Mercy career with better than 700 points, 200 assists and 110 3-pointers made in the red, white and blue.
• She concluded the season as the active leader in both scoring (8.2 points per game) and assists (67).
• Both Jackson and Ristovski played in more than 114 games across the past four seasons for Detroit Mercy.
• It was the ninth meeting between the two programs in women's basketball (NKU leads, 6-3).