DETROIT (11/28/2020) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball plays in its second consecutive home game to open the 2020-21 season Sunday afternoon, when the Titans welcome Indiana State into Calihan Hall for a 2 p.m. ET contest. The game is slated to be seen live on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN Applications.

No fans are permitted for the contest, per a policy set forth by the Department of Athletics for Calihan Hall for the 2020-21 basketball season.

The Titans are coming off an 81-73 setback to Big East foe Xavier in the 2020-21 season opener on Wednesday. Detroit Mercy showed fight throughout the contest, trimming the Musketeers lead down to five points late in the contest, before Xavier pulled away. Four Titans scored in double figures and the squad shot 41-percent from the floor and 73-percent from the free throw line.

Last Time Out
The Titans made 28 free throws, shot 41-percent from the floor and had four players finish in double figures, but came up just short in their season opener Wednesday from Calihan Hall, falling 81-73 to Xavier. It was the first game in the era of head coach AnnMarie Gilbert.

Markyia McCormick led Detroit Mercy (0-1) with a game-high 17 points, while newcomers Sammiyah Hoskin and Kaela Webb each had 14 points for the Titans. Bridgid Fox added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Webb also had four steals and four assists for the red, white and blue. Hoskin, making her Division I debut, shot 5-of-7 from the floor and had five rebounds in just 25 minutes. Senior Aly Reiff collected seven points and three steals for the Titans.

Detroit Mercy shot above 50 percent collectively across the final three quarters and for the game, was 28-for-38 from the free throw line (73.7 percent). McCormick was 8-for-11 from the line, while Webb and Sylare Starks combined to make all nine free throw attempts. The Titans scored 26 points in the second quarter to trail by just six at the halftime break, 42-36, and used a couple of runs to trim the Xavier leads to two in the third quarter and five late in the fourth quarter, but couldn't complete the comeback attempt.

Getting to the Line
The Titans were effective in getting to the free throw line in the season opener, shooting 38 times and making 28 free throws (73.7 percent). The 28 makes and 38 attempts were the most for a Titan team since the team went to the line 41 times, making 31 free throws, against Eastern Michigan on Dec. 6, 2016. Markyia McCormick set a new career-high for free throw makes in the contest, sinking eight free throws out of 11 attempts.

Impressive Debuts
Playing in her first Division I contest, sophomore forward Sammiyah Hoskin (Detroit, Mich.) made 5-of-7 field goal attempts and 4-of-6 free throws for 14 points, adding five rebounds, one assist and one steal in the season opener against Xavier. She started for the Titans and played in 25 minutes. A former Wayne County Community College standout, Hoskin was a Second Team NJCCA All-American last season and starred locally at Wayne Memorial High School.

Junior guard Kaela Webb (Pontiac, Mich.), a transfer from Providence, made her prescence known in her debut, totaling 14 points, four assists and four steals and making all five free throw attempts. Webb, who made 125 3-pointers in her first two collegiate seasons at Providence, scored in double figures for the 28th time in her Division I career. She was just one steal off her career-high of five in a game.

Impact Off Bench
The Titans had two players score in double figures off the bench in the opener and totaled 36 points from players that came in off the bench. Sophomore guard Markyia McCormick posted 17 points (8-of-11 FT) in a team-best 34 minutes, while sophomore forward Bridgid Fox had 10 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes for the red, white and blue. Senior Aly Reiff added seven points, making 3-of-4 field goal attempts and her only 3-point opportunity, and contributing three steals and two assists for the Titans.

Scouting Indiana State
Indiana State opened the 2020-21 campaign with a 68-49 setback on the road at Illinois on Wednesday, Nov. 25. The Sycamores trailed by nine at the halftime break and were out-scored 20-11 in the third quarter as Illinois cruised to the victory. Caitlin Anderson scored a team-high 19 points and four steals off the bench, while senior Jamyra McChristine pulled down 13 rebounds.

The Sycamores were 5-25 last season under now, third-year head coach Vicki Hall. ISU was 3-15 in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). McChristine led the squad a season ago in both scoring (11.0 points per game) and rebounding (6.4 boards per game). All five starters are returning for ISU, including Del'Janae Williams (8.0 ppg, 2.3 apg, 1.7 spg), who played at Martin Luther King HS in Detroit, the same school as Titan Alicia Norman.

Series History
It's the seventh meeting all-time between the two programs and first since 2011, when Indiana State pulled out a two-point win, 64-62, in Terre Haute, Indiana. It's just the second meeting in Calihan Hall between the two schools. Indiana State has won the last three meetings, including the last in Calihan Hall, which came on Nov. 25, 2007, a 74-60 triumph for the Sycamores.

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.

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.

Up Next
Detroit Mercy plays in its third game in a week on Wednesday, visiting Big Ten opponent Michigan State for a 7 p.m. contest from the Breslin Center. The Titans' first road game of the season is set to be streamed live on Big Ten Network Plus.

The Titans will then close out the 2020-21 non-conference slate next weekend, heading just over the border for a battle against Mid-American Conference foe Toledo on Saturday, Dec. 5. The game is set for a 2 p.m. ET start from Savage Arena.