DETROIT (11/24/2020) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball program opens the 2020-21 season -- the first under new head coach AnnMarie Gilbert -- on Wednesday afternoon, hosting Xavier in a 2 p.m. ET contest from Calihan Hall. It'll be the first meeting between the two Jesuit schools since the Musketeers were part of the Horizon League in 1994-95.

The game may be seen live via ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN Applications. Live statistics for the game will also be available. In response to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic throughout the country, no fans are allowed inside Calihan Hall for Titan home basketball games in 2020-21.

Detroit Mercy, in its 44th season as a program overall, is entering its first season under head coach AnnMarie Gilbert, who was hired by the Titans in May of 2020. Gilbert is a head coaching veteran across three different NCAA levels and most recently had a highly-successful, five-year stint at Virginia Union, winning three conference tournament championships and appearing in the NCAA Tournament in all five seasons, including reaching the NCAA Division II national championship game in 2018. She was 135-18 overall at Virginia Union and has 287 wins overall in her head coaching career.

Season Preview
A new era in Titan women's basketball is here as new head coach AnnMarie Gilbert leads the Titans into the 2020-21 season. Nine players are back from last year's squad and the Titans have added five new faces to the team, including four transfers and one freshman. The team is still relatively young, with just one senior in Aly Reiff, but also has some experience with 87-percent of its scoring back from a season ago.

Coach Gilbert is excited in what she sees out of her squad in team practices leading up to the first games in late November.

"Practices are going really well, we are learning a lot of new concepts," Gilbert said during a media day interview. "We're playing at a great, fast pace. They haven't really pushed this fast, we're trying to not turn the ball over. We're trying to get those turnovers down, while getting those assists up, while playing fast and making it all work. It's exciting to try and build something new here and we're onto something."

Among those returning is sophomore guard Sylare Starks, who started all 30 games in her first season with the Titans and led the team and all Horizon League freshmen in scoring at 10.1 points per game. She also ranked seventh in the Horizon League with 50, 3-point field goals for Detroit Mercy and was consistent in her first season, scoring in double figures a team-best 17 times. The Titans bring back four of their top five scorers overall, including junior forward Maxine Moore (8.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg), sophomore guard Markyia McCormick (7.0 ppg, 47 assists) and sophomore forward Bridgid Fox (6.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg).

The Titans added four transfers in junior Cierra Harrison (Niagara County Community College), sophomore Sammiyah Hoskin (Wayne County Community College), junior Alicia Norman (Macomb Community College) and junior guard Kaela Webb (Providence College). Webb, a three-time state champion locally at Detroit Country Day and a finalist for the Miss Basketball award in Michigan in 2018, has plenty of experience in college basketball, having started 46 of 67 games for Providence in the past two seasons combined. She was a Big East All-Freshman Team member in 2018-19 and last season, ranked second on the Friars in scoring at 9.9 points per game, while ranking second in the Big East in 3-point field goals made (78). She made 125 triples in her first two Division I seasons and scored 598 points. Webb was declared immediately eligible by the NCAA prior to the start of the 2020-21 season.

Sophomore guard Annika Corcoran was the team's assists leader a season ago as a freshman, dishing out 61 dimes for the Titans, in addition to ranking second on the squad with 31 3-point field goal makes. She started 27 games for the Titans a season ago. Senior Aly Reiff (4.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg) enters her second season with Detroit Mercy after playing in her first two collegiate seasons at Xavier. She played in all 30 games last season and was third on the team with 21 steals, also making 17 triples last season for the Titans.

Six-foot-five redshirt junior forward Nicole Johanson (3.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg) enters her fourth season of collegiate basketball and was second on the team with 15 blocks, while scoring in double figures three times last season for the Titans. Junior guard Jiera Shears (3.6 ppg) and sophomore guard/forward Abbie McDowell (1.4 ppg, 1.2 rpg) also return for the Titans, while freshman guard Maddie Puletti will compete for time in her first season of college basketball, having played high school basketball at Gilmour Academy with Titan teammate Corcoran.

Scouting Xavier
Xavier is coming off a 3-27 campaign, the first under head coach Melanie Moore. The Musketeers went 2-16 in BIG EAST play last season. Xavier enters the 2020-21 campaign, returning each of its top nine scorers from a season ago. Senior forward A'riana Gray led the team in scoring a season ago at 15.8 points per game and also led the Musketeers in rebounds at 9.3 boards per contest. Gray scored 17.2 points per game during Big East play in 2019-20. 

Senior guard Aaliyah Dunham was the team's top distributor last season, totaling 135 assists or 4.5 assists per game for Xavier. Dunham started all 30 games a season ago. Sophomore guard Morgan Sharps (48 treys) and junior guard Lauren Wasylson (44 triples) both made more than 40 3-pointers last year for Xavier.

All-Time Series
Old conference foes meet once again when Xavier and Detroit Mercy tip off the 2020-21 season. It's the 27th meeting all-time, but first since 1995. Detroit Mercy owns a 14-12 series lead, including an 8-4 mark in games played in Detroit. Xavier has won six of the last 10 meetings, including the last meeting between the two teams, 76-72, which was played inside Calihan Hall on Feb. 13, 1995.

Five Newcomers Join Titans
Under head coach AnnMarie Gilbert, the Titans have welcomed five newcomers for the 2020-21 season. Four of those players have transferred into the program, while freshman Maddie Puletti (Cleveland, Ohio) also joined the Titans after inking her letter of intent last November.

Junior guard Kaela Webb (Pontiac, Mich.) joins the Titans after playing her first two seasons with Providence. Webb, a member of the Big East All-Freshman Team in 2018-19, played in 67 games (46 starts) total with the Friars and ranked second on the team last season in scoring at 9.9 points per game, while also ranking second in the Big East in 3-pointers made (78) and 3-point FG% (40.8). She sank 125 3-pointers during her first two seasons in Division I basketball and tallied 27 double-figure scoring efforts across two seasons with Providence. Webb is the daughter of Titan assistant coach, Tim Webb. She won three Class A state championships with current Titan teammate Maxine Moore and Detroit Country Day High School.

Junior guard Alicia Norman (Detroit, Mich.) is another local product to join the Titans. Norman played in two seasons locally at Macomb Community College in Michigan and helped lead the squad to a 32-0 mark during the 2019-20 season before the pandemic cancelled the season. Norman averaged 11.3 points, 5.4 assists and 3.8 steals during her last season with Macomb CC, ranking seventh in the country in steals and 17th in assists at the NJCAA level.

A third local product is transfer Sammiyah Hoskin (Detroit, Mich.), who played one season for Wayne County Community College after starring for Wayne Memorial High School. She earned several major awards in her lone season, receiving Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year honors in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association (MCCAA). She was a Second Team NJCCA All-American and First Team All-Region, averaging 22.0 points and 8.4 rebounds, while leading her Wayne County CC squad to a 25-5 mark.

Cierra Harrison is another newcomer, coming to Detroit after spending one season each at Monroe Community College and Niagara County Community College, both in New York. In her most recent stop, Harrison helped her Niagara squad to a 30-1 mark a NJCCA Region III Division II Championship. She was First Team All-Region and a Tournament MVP, averaging 15.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists, shooting 49-percent from the floor in 2019-20.

Freshman guard Maddie Puletti (Cleveland, Ohio) was a standout for Gilmour Academy, where she made 121 3-pointers across her junior and senior seasons, combined. She averaged 13 points per game in her final two seasons of high school basketball and was the North Coast League Offensive MVP and Second Team All-District as a senior.

Leading Scorer Starks Returns in 2020-21
A Horizon League All-Freshman Team member in 2019-20, sophomore guard Sylare Starks (Fort Wayne, Ind.) returns after leading the Titans in scoring (10.1 points per game) as a freshman a year ago. Starks also led all HL freshmen in scoring a year ago, ranking 16th overall in scoring in the conference. She was also among the league leaders in 3-pointers made (50), ranking seventh in the HL. Her 50 treys were also third-best in Titan freshman history. She scored in double figures a team-best 17 times in 2019-20 and was one of two Titans to start in all 30 games.

Titans Bring Back Scoring
The Titans bring back nearly 90-percent of their scoring in 2020-21 with 1,517 of 1,729 total points returning from last season. That accounts for 87.7 percent of the Detroit Mercy points a year ago. Nine of the top-10 scorers are back from last year, including the top three. Sophomore guard Sylare Starks led Detroit Mercy in scoring at 10.1 points per game and 302 total points last season, while junior forward Maxine Moore (243 points, 8.1 ppg), sophomore guard Markyia McCormick (210 points, 7.0 ppg) and sophomore forward Bridgid Fox (206 points, 6.9 ppg) were also above the 200-point plateau in 2019-20. In addition, 151 of the 157, 3-pointers made a season ago, also return for the Titans.

Horizon League Newcomers
Detroit Mercy has two new rivals in the Horizon League during the 2020-21 academic school year in Purdue Fort Wayne and Robert Morris. Both programs enter the conference for all league-sponsored sports. The league expands from 10 schools last season to 12 in 2020-21.

Robert Morris is coming off a 23-7 season in 2019-20, which included a 17-1 mark in the Northeast Conference. Purdue Fort Wayne was 5-24 last season, going 1-15 in The Summit League. The Titans have never played Robert Morris in women's basketball, but are 9-2 all-time against the Mastodons, last meeting Purdue Fort Wayne during the 2015-16 season.

Four Non-Conference Games on Deck
The Titans are slated to play in just four non-league games in the 2020-21 basketball season prior to the 20-game Horizon League schedule with the season start date being pushed back to late November. Following its season opener at home against Xavier, Detroit Mercy welcomes Indiana State to Calihan Hall on Sunday, Nov. 29. It'll be the first meeting between the two programs since 2011.

The red, white and blue then hit the road for a pair of road games, visiting Big Ten foe Michigan State on Wednesday, Dec. 2 before heading just over the border into Ohio to face Mid-American Conference opponent Toledo on Saturday, Dec. 5. The game against the Rockets is set to be the final non-league contest before the Titans open the Horizon League slate the following weekend on Dec. 12-13, hosting Wright State.

Titan Coaching Staff
Gilbert announced the hiring of three new assistant coaches for the Titan women's basketball program following her hiring in April. Gilbert welcomed longtime college coach LaTanya Collins, local product Tim Webb as well as Chanel Green into the program early in the summer. Collins has head coaching experience with 69 head coaching victories and also has a bevy of Division I coaching experience, having coached at fellow Division I programs Coppin State, Marist, Radford and Virginia Tech.

Webb, the father of Titan junior guard Kaela Webb, was most recently the head coach at nearby Detroit Country Day High School. He was an assistant coach there when the school won three state championships (2015, 2017, 2018) in a span of four years with Titan players, Maxine Moore and Kaela Webb, both playing for the Yellowjackets. His appointment at Detroit Mercy is his first collegiate job.

Green joins the Titans after serving as the Director of Basketball Operations at William & Mary most recently during the 2019-20 season. Prior to that, Green began her coaching career at Gilbert's alma mater, Oberlin. She played at the Division I level at both East Carolina and Hampton.

Returning for the Titans this season on staff is graduate assistant Victoria Moreland, who enters her second year with the Titan women's basketball program.

Milestone Watch
Head coach AnnMarie Gilbert is just 13 wins from 300 in her career as the leader of a program. She has wins at three different levels and three different schools -- amassing 135 at Division II Virginia Union, 94 at Eastern Michigan and 58 at her alma mater Oberlin, where she began her coaching career. In addition, she has 148 league wins all-time, just two off 150 in her career.

New-Look Horizon League Schedule
The Titans and the rest of the Horizon League will play a new schedule format in 2020-21, due to the current pandemic in the country. Detroit Mercy will play in back-to-back days during 10 weekends during the league season. The schedule structure also means Detroit Mercy will not play all of the teams in the league, missing Northern Kentucky during the regular season. The Titans open the HL slate on Dec. 12-13, hosting Wright State from Calihan Hall.

Up Next
Detroit Mercy returns to action Thanksgiving weekend for another home game, hosting Indiana State on Sunday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. ET from Calihan Hall. It'll be the seventh meeting between the two programs and first meeting between the Titans and Sycamores since the 2011 season (series tied, 3-3). The contest against Indiana State is also slated for an ESPN3.com broadcast.