DETROIT (12/1/2020) -- After two games at home to open the 2020-21 season, the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team hits the road for two-straight, starting with a Wednesday night contest against Big Ten foe Michigan State from the Breslin Center in East Lansing. The opening tip is set for 7 p.m. ET and is slated to be broadcast live online on the Big Ten Network Plus.
The Titans are meeting the Spartans for the 30th time in women's basketball and sixth time in the past 10 seasons. It's the second consecutive season the Titans are playing at the Breslin Center. It's the first of two meetings for Titan basketball with Michigan State this week as the Detroit Mercy men's basketball squad visits the Breslin Center on Friday.
It's a homecoming of sorts for Titan head coach
AnnMarie Gilbert, who spent five seasons (2002-07) in East Lansing as an assistant coach for the Spartans. She was the staff's recruiting coordinator from 2005-07 and was part of the coaching staff that reached five NCAA Tournaments in five seasons, including helping lead a run to the NCAA Championship game in 2005.
Detroit Mercy is coming off a pair of close home setbacks, most recently falling 84-79 to Indiana State on Sunday from Calihan Hall.
Last Time Out
Junior guard
Kaela Webb knocked down six 3-pointers on her way to a career-high 25 points and Detroit Mercy shot 50-percent from 3-point range and 82-percent at the free-throw line, but the Titans came up just short at home to Indiana State, 84-79, on Sunday from Calihan Hall. Webb made five triples in the first half and tied her career-best with the six made 3-pointers. Sophomore guard
Markyia McCormick added 17 points for the second-straight contest, hitting three 3-pointers, and junior guard
Alicia Norman posted 10 points, seven assists and three steals for the red, white and blue in just her second career Division I game.
Detroit Mercy made 12 triples in the contest -- the most in a game since the 2017-18 season -- and shot 12-of-24 from beyond the 3-point arc. The Titans were also efficient from the free throw line, sinking 19-of-23 shots from the stripe (82.6). Overall, the Titans shot 44.4 percent from the floor (24-for-54) in the game and forced 21 Indiana State turnovers in the contest.
Webb scored in double figures for her second-straight contest to start her Detroit Mercy career and made 6-of-9 triple attempts, while McCormick also scored in double figures for the second-straight to start 2020-21. Norman's seven helpers were the most for a Titan player since the 2017-18 campaign.
Last Time It Happened...
- The Titans knocked down 28 free throws in their season opener against Xavier, marking the most free throws made by the squad since making 31 against Eastern Michigan on Dec. 6, 2016.
- Kaela Webb tallied 25 points in Sunday's game against Indiana State, which was the most for a Titan player since Anja Marinkovic scored 25 points against UIC on Feb. 15, 2018.
- Alicia Norman's seven helpers were the most assists since Brittney Jackson had eight assists against Bowling Green on Nov. 13, 2017.
- Norman's seven assists were also the most for a Titan newcomer since freshman Lola Ristovski had seven dimes against Northern Kentucky on Jan. 16, 2016.
- Webb's six made 3-pointers in Sunday's setback to Indiana State were the most made triples since Nicole Urbanick made six treys against Green Bay on Feb. 4, 2017.
- Detroit Mercy's 12 3-pointers made against Indiana State were the most since the squad knocked down 15 against Cleveland State on Feb. 1, 2018.
- The Titans shot 50-percent from deep (12-for-24) against ISU, which was the highest percentage since Detroit Mercy shot 50-percent (5-for-10) against Manhattan on Nov. 24, 2018.
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.
Kaela Webb and
Sylare Starks also combined to go 9-for-9 in the game.
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 on Nov. 25. 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 in Detroit at Wayne Memorial High School.
Junior guard
Kaela Webb (Pontiac, Mich.), a transfer from Providence, made her presence 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.
Junior guard
Alicia Norman (Detroit, Mich.) recorded 10 points, seven assists and three steals off the bench in Detroit Mercy's second game of the season on Sunday against Indiana State. The transfer from nearby Macomb Community College and former Martin Luther King HS standout in Detroit, Norman had six assists before halftime and made all six free throws, turning the ball over just twice.
Scouting Michigan State
The Spartans are 1-0 after picking up a 77-44 victory over Saint Francis in their 2020-21 season opener. MSU is in its 14th season under longtime head coach Suzy Merchant, who has nearly 500 head coaching victories. The Spartans were 16-14 last season, including 9-9 in Big Ten play, but have tallied 10, 20-win seasons during Merchant's tenure.
Four Spartans were in double figures in the season opener, including junior guard Nia Clouden, who posted 15 points and 10 assists. Freshman forward Kendall Bostin also had 15 points and a team-high six boards. Clouden led the team in scoring a season ago at 14.5 points per game, shooting 82.3 percent from the free-throw line. Sophomore forward Taiyier Parks added 11 points and three steals against Saint Francis.
Series History
The Titans and Spartans are meeting for the 30th time in women's basketball with MSU holding the series advantage, 22-7. MSU has won 17-straight against the Titans with the last red, white and blue victory coming in a 75-70 victory on Dec. 20, 1994. The Titans are 1-16 at the Breslin Center, which includes dropping a contest last season in East Lansing. It's the sixth meeting in the past decade.
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.
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.
Local Connections
The Titans have several players who hail from the Metro Detroit area. Newcomers
Sammiyah Hoskin (Detroit, Mich.),
Alicia Norman (Detroit, Mich.) and
Kaela Webb (Pontiac, Mich.) as well as returning junior
Maxine Moore (Southfield, Mich.) all went to high school in the Metro Detroit area with Hoskin going to Wayne Memorial High School before starring at nearby Wayne County Community College. Norman was a star guard for Martin Luther King High School in Detroit, playing several high school games in Calihan Hall. She is a transfer from nearby Macomb Community College, where she helped lead her 2019-20 squad to a perfect 32-0 record and a NJCAA Division II National Championship appearance.
Moore and Webb were high school teammates, who graduated together and won three Class B state championships (2015, 2017, 2018) for Detroit Country Day High School. Webb, a finalist for the 2018 Miss Basketball award in Michigan is a transfer from Providence College. Webb is the daughter of Titan assistant coach,
Tim Webb, who coached both Webb and Moore at Detroit Country Day.
Up Next
Detroit Mercy returns to the road this weekend, heading just over the border to play Mid-American Conference opponent Toledo on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 2 p.m. ET. The non-league contest against the Rockets is slated to be streamed live on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN Applications from Savage Arena. It'll be the final non-league game prior to Detroit Mercy's Horizon League opener on Saturday, Dec. 12 against Wright State from Calihan Hall.
