DETROIT (12/11/2020) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team opens the 2020-21 Horizon League slate this weekend, hosting Wright State for a pair of games on Saturday and Sunday from Calihan Hall. Both games are set for a 2 p.m. ET tip and may be seen live via ESPN-Plus.
Detroit Mercy (0-4) is facing the opponent that they wrapped up the Horizon League regular season with last season, dropping a 66-58 contest with the Raiders at the end of 2020-21 on Feb. 29, 2020 from Calihan Hall. The Titans are meeting the Raiders for the 59th time in women's basketball with the Raiders holding a 30-28 edge in the all-time series.
The red, white and blue are coming off a 75-65 road setback in their non-league finale against Toledo last Saturday. Junior guard
Kaela Webb knocked down 11 field goals and scored a career and game-high 29 points for the Titans. This weekend's games feature two of the top scorers in the league with Webb (18.0 points per game) and Wright State guard Angel Baker (17.5 ppg) currently both in the top-five in the Horizon League in scoring.
Scouting Wright State
The Raiders are 0-2 on the young season with losses coming to Bradley (66-61) and Michigan (82-59). WSU had its first two games of the season canceled before playing in a pair of non-league games in early December. Wright State is coming off a 19-12 season in 2019-20, with the Raiders went 13-5 in Horizon League play. The Raiders are entering their fifth season under Katrina Merriweather, who has 94 victories to her name.
Junior guard Angel Baker, a First Team All-League honoree, and WSU's leading scorer a year ago returns for the Raiders. She scored 16.5 points per game last season, which ranked third in the HL. She is averaging 17.5 points and 8.0 rebounds after two games in 2020-21. Senior center Tyler Frierson is adding 6.5 points and 7.0 rebounds through two games for Wright State.
All-Time Series
Detroit Mercy and Wright State have met 58 times previously, with the Raiders holding a slight 30-28 series lead over the Titans. Detroit Mercy is 14-14 in games played from Calihan Hall. The Titans are currently on a six-game skid against the Raiders, last winning on March 6, 2017 in Horizon League tournament play.
Head coach
AnnMarie Gilbert is 1-0 against the Raiders, picking up a 74-41 win for Eastern Michigan in 2007.
Last Time Out
Junior guard
Kaela Webb scored a career-best for the second time in three games, totaling a game-high 29 points and the Titans scored 25 fourth-quarter points, but came up just short on the road at Toledo, 75-65, on Saturday, Dec. 5. It was the non-league finale for the Titans. Webb shot 11-of-25 from the floor, hitting three 3-pointers for the red, white and blue. Sophomore guard
Sylare Starks added 13 points, her second-straight game in double figures.
Junior guard
Alicia Norman totaled eight points, five assists and two steals for Detroit Mercy, which had nine thefts in the contest and forced 15 Toledo turnovers. The Titans were again effective from the free throw line, hitting 17-of-19 attempts (89.5%). Detroit Mercy shot 37.9% overall in the game. Senior
Aly Reiff led the red, white and blue with six rebounds in the game, while eight of the nine Titans that played had multiple boards.
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.
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Kaela Webb tallied 29 points in the non-league finale against Toledo, which was the most for a Titan player since Rosanna Reynolds scored 32 points at Oakland on Jan. 7, 2017. It was just the eighth game of 29 or more points by a Titan player in the past six seasons. Reynolds was also the last Titan to score more than 25-points twice in a season, doing so three times in 2016-17.
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Alicia Norman's seven helpers against Indiana State were the most assists since
Brittney Jackson had eight assists against Bowling Green on Nov. 13, 2017. Webb notched seven dimes in the very next game against Michigan State. 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 against 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 Titans knocked down 15 triples against Cleveland State on Feb. 1, 2018.
• The Titans shot 50-percent from deep (12-for-24) against ISU, which was the highest percentage from 3-point range since Detroit Mercy shot 50-percent (5-for-10) against Manhattan on Nov. 24, 2018.
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 presence known in her debut, totaling 14 points, four assists and four steals and making all five free throw attempts. Webb then scored a career-high 25 points against Indiana State, sinking six 3-pointers and shooting 6-of-9 from deep. In her third game with the Titans, Webb posted seven assists, six boards and three steals at Michigan State and then set a new career-high again at Toledo, making 11 field goals, including three from deep, and scoring 29 points. She has a league-high 10 made 3-pointers through four games and leads the team, while ranking third in the conference, in points per game at 18.0.
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. She leads the Horizon League early in the season in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.8), after her five-assist effort at Toledo. Norman has a team-best 14 assists against just four turnovers and is also tied-for-third on the team with five steals.
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 against Xavier, sinking eight free throws out of 11 attempts.
Kaela Webb and
Sylare Starks also combined to go 9-for-9 in the game. Webb is also the leader in the Horizon League in free throw percentage (93.3), sinking 14-of-15 shots so far.
The Titans followed that effort with a 19-for-23 performance from the free throw line (82.6%) against Indiana State and then a 17-for-19 effort (89.5%) at Toledo. Through four games, Detroit Mercy is 69-of-90 from the charity stripe (76.7%), ranking in the top-25 nationally in both free throws made and attempted. The Titans are 17th in free throws made and 22nd in attempts. Detroit Mercy is also 36th in the country in FT percentage.
Scoring Punch From Marky
Sophomore guard
Markyia McCormick (Pickerington, Ohio) has gotten into the scoring column often early in the 2020-21 season, scoring 17 points in back-to-back games to start the season, before tallying nine points on the road at Michigan State. She ranks second on the squad in scoring (10.8 points per game) after the first four contests of the season. She ranks second on the squad in minutes played (115) and tied-for-first in free throws made (14), while shooting at a high percentage from 3-point range (5-for-11, 45.5%). McCormick ranked third on the team as a freshman a season ago in scoring at 7.0 points per game.
Starks' Spark
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.
In her third game of the 2020-21 season, Starks led Detroit Mercy and all scorers against Michigan State, scoring a game-best 18 points, just one off her career-high. She made three 3-pointers and had 10 points by the halftime break. Starks added 13 points at Toledo in the non-league finale for the Titans and has scored in double figures in 19 of 34 career games. She has made 55 triples and 1.6 treys per game in her Titan career.
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.
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.
Junior guard
Kaela Webb has 93 steals in her Division I career (86 at Providence, seven at Detroit Mercy), just seven shy away from 100 in her collegiate career. Webb, who scored 598 points in her first two seasons at Providence, also has 670 career points and is 330 points away from 1,000 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.
Titans Announce Signing of Taylor Blunt
The Titans and head coach
AnnMarie Gilbert announced the signing on Dec. 3 of Taylor Blunt (Morgantown, Pa. / The Peddie School [N.J.]), who inked her National Letter of Intent to play for the Titans during the fall signing period in November.
Blunt, a 5-foot-7 guard, surpassed the 1,000-point plateau during her junior season of high school and is a two-time First Team All-County and 2019-20 Mid-Atlantic Prep League All-League selection for Peddie School. She averaged 20 points per game in 2019-20, scoring more than 30 points in a game four times, including a career-high 39 points.
Blunt made six 3-pointers in a game eight times last season, including a season-high eight. She played AAU basketball with Exodus NYC EYBL, helping team to 30-2 mark during the 2020 year. Her father, Bernard Blunt, is in the Saint Joseph's Basketball Hall of Fame and is one of the top scorers in school history.
Up Next
Detroit Mercy returns to play next weekend, heading for Chicago to face UIC in its first Horizon League road series of the 2020-21 campaign. The Titans will face the Flames on Saturday and Sunday from the Credit Union 1 Arena with game times set for 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT on Saturday and 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. locally in Chicago on Sunday. Both games are set to be streamed live on ESPN-Plus next weekend.
