The Basics
Final Score: Detroit Mercy 70, Cleveland State 59
Records: Detroit Mercy 2-15 (2-4 HL), Cleveland State 13-4 (3-3 HL)
Location: Detroit, Mich. (Calihan Hall)

DETROIT (1/16/2020) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team shutdown Cleveland State in the fourth quarter Thursday evening to highlight a complete team effort overall as the Titans defeated the Vikings from Calihan Hall in a 70-59 win. It was the second Horizon League win of the season for the red, white and blue.

The Titans took the lead for good late in the second quarter and never looked back. The Detroit Mercy defense held Cleveland State scoreless in the final 5:37 of the game, closing the game on an 8-0 run to close out the victory.

It was a balanced scoring effort overall with six players scoring more than seven points, but none more than 13 during the contest on Thursday. Three Titan freshmen were in double figures with Sylare Starks and Markyia McCormick both scoring 13 points and Bridgid Fox adding 12 points for the Titans, while also pulling down a team-best eight rebounds. Sophomore Maxine Moore and freshman Annika Corcoran each had eight points, while senior Zoey Oatis tallied seven points for Detroit Mercy.

The Titans moved the ball well during the contest and assisted on 22 of 27 made field goals, with both numbers being season-highs. Detroit Mercy was efficient shooting the ball, sinking 47.4-percent of its shots (27-for-57) and connecting on 40-percent on its 3-point attempts (8-of-20). Detroit Mercy also out-rebounded Cleveland State, 40-38.

Both teams were hot offensively in the first quarter, with each team sinking better than 50-percent of their shots in the opening 10 minutes. Moore was involved early, scoring the first two Titan field goals and then assisting on Fox's lay-up as Detroit Mercy took an early 6-2 lead. Cleveland State would take a 12-8 lead, but Detroit Mercy came back, scoring the next five points with junior Aly Reiff sinking a field goal in the paint and then Corcoran drilling a 3-pointer from the wing.

Fox sank her second field goal of the quarter in the final 70 seconds before Moore closed out the stanza with a jumper off a McCormick feed just before the first-quarter buzzer. The Titans trailed by one after one quarter, 18-17.

Starks sank her first of three 3-pointers on the evening to open the second quarter and Fox followed with a lay-up off a McCormick assist as Detroit Mercy took a 22-21 lead at the 8:01 mark in the second. After the team's trading buckets, McCormick knocked down a 3-pointer as Detroit Mercy pulled ahead, 27-24. McCormick would then connect on another triple -- Detroit Mercy's fourth of the first half. Cleveland State would cut the lead down to one, 30-29, at the media timeout of the second quarter.

Starks made her second trey of the contest and the Titans' fifth of the opening half with 4:30 left in half to take a 33-29 lead. CSU would tie the game, 34-34, late in the first half, but the Titans scored the final four points of the second quarter with Fox making her fourth consecutive field goal off a terrific dish from Moore. Moore then added a pair of free throws with just 7 seconds left in the first half as Detroit Mercy held a 38-34 halftime advantage.

The Titans never trailed in the second half and quickly upped their advantage to 10 points, 49-39, just 3:41 into the third quarter. After the Vikings scored the first three points of the third quarter, Detroit Mercy went on an 11-2 run to take the 10-point lead. Corcoran opened the run with a 3-pointer and then scored off the fast break just seconds later as the freshman guard scored five-straight points in a matter of seconds. McCormick followed her classmate with her third triple of the game just 30 seconds later and then Starks drilled a 3-pointer to close out the furious run.

Cleveland State chipped away at the Titan lead, but Oatis scored two-straight buckets late in the frame, one on a highlight-reel spin move past her defender, as Detroit Mercy led by five, 58-53, after three quarters.

The Vikings trimmed the Titan lead down to three twice early in the fourth quarter, but Oatis scored another lay-up and sophomore Nicole Johanson added a lay-up as Detroit Mercy held its advantage. Cleveland State cut the lead to three once more, 62-59, with 5:37 left but Detroit Mercy closed the game on an 8-0 run.

Fox scored off an Aly Reiff assist to open the run and McCormick followed with a tough lay-up as Moore found her with a pass as McCormick was racing towards the basket down the end line. Fox then converted another field goal with 2:30 remaining as Detroit Mercy built its lead up to nine, 68-59, and McCormick punctuated the win with two free throws with 47 seconds left. The Titan defense stood tall down the stretch as Cleveland State missed its final seven field-goal attempts, turning the ball over three times in the final 5:14.

The Titans had 22 assists in the contest -- the first 20 assists game since the 2016-17 season. Five Titans had three or more assists with Corcoran leading the way with a career-high six assists. Starks and Moore each had four assists for the Titans, while McCormick and Reiff also contributed three assists each. Fox had a team-high eight boards, while Moore added seven caroms and Johanson tallied six rebounds. Starks also had three of the six Titan steals.

Detroit Mercy shot 48-percent in the second half along and out-scored Cleveland State in the final quarter, 12-6. The Titans also had a 22-3 advantage in bench points.

Titan News & Notes
• The Titans' 47.4 percent shooting clip was the second-highest mark of the season (48.9 percent against Sacred Heart).
• The 22 assists for the Titans were the most since 25 helpers against UIC on Dec. 31, 2016.
• Starks went into double figures for the team-leading 10th time in her freshmen campaign.
• Corcoran's six assists were a career-high and the second time with five or more assists in a game this season.
• McCormick made three 3-pointers for the third time this season, while Starks made three or more for the second time in 2019-20.
• Fox has eight or more rebounds in three games in 2019-20.
• The 40 rebounds were also the second-highest mark of the season (Titans had 42 boards against Akron at home on Nov. 23).
• Corcoran and Fox became the third and fourth Titan freshmen in 2019-20 to surpass 100 career points (Starks and McCormick being the others).
• It was the 63rd meeting between the two women's basketball programs (Titans lead series, 41-22).
• Bernard Scott earned his fifth victory over Cleveland State, where he coached at in his previous stop before joining the Titans as their head coach.

Up Next
Detroit Mercy returns to the hardwood Saturday, hosting Youngstown State in a 1 p.m. contest from Calihan Hall. The game may be seen live on ESPN-Plus.