DETROIT (11/25/2020) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team rallied several times in Wednesday afternoon's 2020-21 season opener and four Titans scored in double figures, but the red, white and blue was edged by Xavier, 81-73, from Calihan Hall.
Sophomore guard
Markyia McCormick scored a game-high 17 points for the Titans, while newcomers
Kaela Webb and
Sammiyah Hoskin each added 14 points for Detroit Mercy (0-1). Sophomore forward
Bridgid Fox added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds for the Titans.
The game was the first in the era of Titan head coach
AnnMarie Gilbert and the Titans showed their mettle and aggressiveness throughout the contest. The Titans were also efficient in shooting after the first quarter, shooting 51.5 percent (17-for-33) in the final three stanzas. The Titans also made 28-of-38 shots (73.7 percent) from the free throw line in the contest.
Xavier took an 11-2 lead early, but the Titans rallied at the end of the first quarter, scoring eight of the final 14 points in that frame. Senior
Aly Reiff converted on a 3-pointer and the next time down the court, junior
Maxine Moore made a nifty hook shot. Reiff, who scored seven points and had three steals against her former squad, closed out a five-point quarter with a lay-up in the final minute.
Hoskin, a transfer from Wayne County Community College, had a big second quarter for Detroit Mercy, scoring 11 of her 14 points in the game during that frame. She opened with a pair of free throws at the 8:42 mark to trim the Xavier lead to three points, 19-16. After assisting on
Cierra Harrison's fast break lay-up at 7:23, she made a lay-up herself the next time down the court as Detroit Mercy was down just five, 25-20, midway through the second quarter.
After a Webb steal later in the second, Hoskin scored off the fast break. Xavier would take a 13-point lead with less than 2 minutes left in the second, before Detroit Mercy went on a furious 7-0 run in the final 90 seconds. Hoskin and Fox began the run with a second chance lay-up after Fox grabbed an offensive rebound. Sophomore guard
Sylare Starks would get to the line twice in the next 40 seconds, making all four free throws, before Fox closed out the first half with a free throw of her own.
With the 7-0 run, the Titans trailed by just six at the halftime break, 42-36. Hoskin had 11 points to lead the Titans at the halftime break.
The Musketeers went up 11 early in the third quarter, but again the Titans rallied. Webb, a Providence transfer, and McCormick traded buckets during a 11-2 run with Webb sinking a 3-pointer to open it up and both players scoring five points. Fox would convert on a free throw at the 4:46 mark after the media timeout as Detroit Mercy was down just two, 50-48.
McCormick had eight of her 17 points in the third quarter and Webb contributed seven points in the stanza. The Titans trailed Xavier by 13 entering the fourth, but McCormick made a 3-pointer in the first minute of the fourth quarter to trim that deficit to 10, 68-58.
The Titans continued to chip away at the lead and like for most of the night had Xavier in foul trouble with their aggressive attacking on the basket. After a Reiff bucket in the paint and a Webb steal and lay-up, the Titans had the deficit down to seven, 73-66, with 3:00 left in the game.
Hoskin scored with 1:39 remaining as Detroit Mercy was within five points, 75-70, but Xavier would counter with two buckets, the second coming with 39 seconds left as Detroit Mercy came up just short in surmounting a complete comeback attempt.
Hoskin, who sank 5-of-7 shots, added five rebounds for the Titans, while Webb had team-highs with four assists and four steals. As a team, Detroit Mercy had 11 steals, while also assisting on 13 of 21 field goals. McCormick was 4-of-9 from the floor and 8-for-11 from the free throw line as she was just two points shy of her career-high set during her freshman season.
Overall in the game, Detroit Mercy shot 41.2 percent from the floor (21-for-51), while Xavier made 43.3 percent of its shots (29-for-67). Both teams struggled from beyong the arc, with the Musketeers sinking two 3-pointers and the Titans making three. A total of 56 fouls were called in the game.
The Titans held Xavier's returning leading scorer A'riana Gray in check, as she just scored just six points and none in the second half. Nia Clark led Xavier (1-0) with 14 points.
Titan News & Notes
• McCormick was just two points off her career-high of 19, scored last year at Eastern Michigan.
• The 28 free throw makes and 38 free throw attempts by the Titans were the most since the squad went 31-for-41 against Eastern Michigan on Dec. 6, 2016.
• Fox scored in double figures for the 10th time in her Titan career.
• Several Titans made their Division I debuts in Harrison, Hoskin and
Alicia Norman.
• Reiff played in 57 games across two seasons for Xavier during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons before transferring to the Titans.
• Webb made her Detroit Mercy debut after playing in two seasons for another Big East foe, Providence, in each of the past two years.
• It was the 27th meeting all-time between the two programs (Titans lead series, 14-13), but first matchup since 1995.
Up Next
Detroit Mercy returns to the court on Sunday, hosting Indiana State in a 2 p.m. ET contest from Calihan Hall. The game is slated to be streamed live on ESPN3.com with
Denny Kapp calling all of the action.
