DETROIT (1/14/2020) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team stays at home this week, hosting a pair of games this weekend at Calihan Hall, starting with Thursday evening's contest against Cleveland State. The opening tip is set for 7 p.m. ET and may be seen live via ESPN-Plus.

The Titans are in their third game of four at home during the month of January. Detroit Mercy also welcomes Youngstown State to town on Saturday in a 1 p.m. contest from Calihan Hall.

On The Court:

• The Titans are playing their fourth and fifth home games of the Horizon League slate; Detroit Mercy closes the HL season with seven of 11 away from Calihan Hall.
• Detroit Mercy is coming off a pair of losses at home last week to Milwaukee and Green Bay. The Titans knocked down 11 3-pointers in Saturday's loss to the Phoenix.
• Senior Zoey Oatis, who tallied her fourth career double-double (19 pts., 12 reb.) against the Panthers, ranks second in the HL in steals per game (2.0).
• Titan freshman Sylare Starks leads all Horizon League freshmen as well as the Titans in scoring at 9.4 points per game.
• Oatis is 14th in the conference in rebounding (5.8 boards per game) and ranks eighth in the Horizon League in offensive rebounding (2.1 offensive caroms per game).
• The Titans have earned three Horizon League Freshman of the Week honors from three different players -- Sylare Starks (Nov. 25), Bridgid Fox (Dec. 16) and Markyia McCormick (Dec. 23). It's the first time in league history that three different players from the same team have earned the Freshman of the Week honor in the same season.
• More than half of the scoring output in 2019-20 has been by Titan true freshmen with 53.1 percent of the scoring down by the five Detroit Mercy freshmen (53.1 percent // 493 points).
• The Titans hold a 40-22 series advantage and 23-7 lead in games played at home against Cleveland State in the all-time series.
• The Titans are one of the youngest teams in NCAA Division I with 10 underclassmen (five freshmen, five sophomores) and holds an average age of 19.3 on its roster.
• Head coach Bernard Scott is in his fifth season at the helm of the Titans and has led them to two top-four finishes and a Horizon League championship game in 2017.
• The Titans were picked to finish in ninth place in the 2019-20 Horizon League Preseason Poll.

Scouting Cleveland State:

• Cleveland State is 13-3 overall and 3-2 in Horizon League play entering Thursday's game. The Vikings had an 11-game win streak earlier this season during the non-conference portion of the season.
• In Horizon League play, CSU has wins over UIC, Northern Kentucky and Youngstown State, while falling at home to IUPUI and on the road against Wright State.
• The team is in its second season under head coach Chris Kielsmeier.
• Mariah Miller leads the team and the Horizon League in scoring at 19.3 points per game, while Mariah White is fifth in the conference in scoring at 14.9 points per game.
• Savanna Crockett ranks second in the league in rebounding (8.5 caroms per game) and third in blocks (1.3 per game).
• White leads the league in steals (58) and ranks second in assists per game (3.6).

Last Time Out
The Titans knocked down 11 3-pointers, including 10 after the first quarter on Saturday, but the Titans fell in a 65-48 setback to visiting Green Bay from Calihan Hall on Saturday, Jan. 11. Detroit Mercy had trouble connecting on shots early in the contest, but shot 41-percent after the first quarter as the Titans and Phoenix both scored 42 points in the final three quarters of the contest.

Freshman guard Annika Corcoran led a balanced Detroit Mercy scoring attack with 10 points, while classmate Markyia McCormick added nine points and junior Aly Reiff tallied eight points. Senior Zoey Oatis had nine rebounds and freshman guard Sylare Starks tallied a career-high four assists. Detroit Mercy assisted on 14 of its 16 made field goals on Saturday.

Freshmen Scoring
A bulk of the scoring output for the Titans this season have come from their freshmen class with the five true Detroit Mercy freshmen scoring 53-percent of the points in the 2019-20 season. Titan freshmen have accounted for 493 of the 928 points scored this season (53.1%) or 30.8 points of the 58.0 points scored per game. 

Sylare Starks leads the team and all Horizon League freshmen at 9.4 points per game, while classmate Markyia McCormick is second on the squad and fourth among league rookies in scoring at 8.1 points per game. Annika Corcoran (6.0 ppg) and Bridgid Fox (5.9 ppg) are fifth and sixth on the squad in scoring. Further, 59 of the 84, 3-pointers made this season have been by the freshmen class -- Starks (22), Corcoran (16), McCormick (14), Abbie McDowell (6) and Fox (1).

Up Next
Detroit Mercy hosts Youngstown State in a 1 p.m. game Saturday from Calihan Hall. The Titans then return to the road next weekend, heading to Ohio and Kentucky for games against Wright State (Thursday, Jan. 23) and Northern Kentucky (Saturday, Jan. 25), respectively. Game times are set for 7 p.m. at Wright State on Thursday and 2 p.m. ET at NKU on Saturday.