DETROIT (12/30/2020) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball program ushers in the New Year with a pair of games this weekend against visiting Milwaukee, beginning with a New Years Day game at 5 p.m. from Calihan Hall. The Titans and Panthers are set to play against Saturday, Jan. 2 at 5 p.m. ET.

Both games are set for a ESPN-Plus broadcast with Denny Kapp calling all of the action from Dick Vitale Court. As per the Titans policy regarding fans in 2020-21, no fans are permitted inside Calihan Hall for any home basketball game this season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Last Time Out
Five Titans scored in double figures and Detroit Mercy out-scored host UIC 22-10 in a pivotal third quarter en route to a convincing 72-58 road win at UIC on Dec. 20. It was the first Horizon League win of the season for the Titans, which led by as many as 25 points in the game.

The Titans pulled down 20 offensive rebounds and 50 total caroms in the contest -- with Bridgid Fox pulling down seven offensive boards and 11 total. Fox had her second-straight double-double with a career and game-high 16 points, adding two steals. Kaela Webb and Sylare Starks each added 15 points, while Aly Reiff and Markyia McCormick both scored 10 points. Detroit Mercy was 15-of-18 (83.3%) at the free throw line and also made 7-of-17 attempts from deep.

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. 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 eight games, Detroit Mercy is 131-for-180 from the charity stripe (72.8%), ranking in the top-15 nationally in both free throws made and attempted. The Titans are 11th in free throws made and 11th in attempts. Junior guard Kaela Webb currently leads the Horizon League in free throw percentage (89.3), sinking 25-of-28 shots, while McCormick is fifth hitting 30-of-39 attempts for a 76.9 percentage, ranking second in the league in free throw makes (30).

Scouting Milwaukee
The Panthers are 7-1 and one of three Horizon League with perfect 4-0 league marks early in the HL season. Milwaukee is coming off a pair of home wins over HL newcomer Robert Morris after sweeping Green Bay on the road to open the Horizon League season on Dec. 12-13. It's the first 4-0 start in league play for the Panthers since the 2001-02 campaign.

Megan Walstad, a past HL Freshman of the Year, leads the squad in scoring at 13.0 points per game and leads all Horizon League players in rebounding (9.6 caroms per game). Senior Brandi Bisping is adding 9.9 points and 7.6 boards per contest. The Panthers allow the second-fewest points per game (54.1) and have the best FG defense (34.3%) in the HL. Milwaukee is also among the national leaders in free-throw percentage (82.7%).

All-Time Series
The Titans and Panthers are meeting for the 60th and 61st times in women's basketball this weekend in the pair of games from Calihan Hall. Detroit Mercy trails in the series, 28-31, but holds a 14-13 mark in games played in Detroit.

Milwaukee has won the past six meetings between the two programs, with the Titans last winning 77-63 on Feb. 2, 2017 in a game played at Calihan Hall.

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 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. Webb has scored 25-plus points twice in her first eight games as a Titan, becoming the first since Reynolds to score more than 25 points twice in a season, with Reynolds doing so three times in 2016-17.

• Alicia Norman's seven helpers against Indiana State were the most assists by a Titan 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 NKU 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.

• The Titans shot 50-percent from deep (12-for-24) against Indiana State, which was the highest percentage from 3-point range since Detroit Mercy shot 50-percent (5-for-10) against Manhattan on Nov. 24, 2018.

• The 50 rebounds by the Titans against UIC on Dec. 20 were the most since the team had 50 against Salem International on Dec. 5, 2015. The 20 offensive rebounds  were also the most since the Titans had 22 offensive boards against Milwaukee on Feb. 8, 2014.

• Fox had back-to-back double-doubles in the pair of games against UIC, becoming the first Titan to have back-to-back double-doubles since Reynolds had two-straight from Dec. 31, 2017 to Jan. 7, 2017.

Impressive Debut for Webb
Junior guard Kaela Webb (Pontiac, Mich.), a transfer from Providence, has made her presence known as a Titan. Webb scored a career-high 25 points in her second game in the red, white and blue 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, the most points for a Titan player in more than three seasons.  Webb has scored in double figures in seven of eight games in a Titan uniform, including 20 or more points four times.

Webb is among the league leaders in several statistical categories, ranking first in scoring (18.6 points per game), first in free-throw percentage (89.3), first in field goals made (52) and total points (149) and second in 3-pointers made (20) through eight games. She is also seventh in the Horizon League in assists per game (2.8) and third in minutes played per game (34.4).

Star Fox
Sophomore forward Bridgid Fox (Altoona, Pa.) played in every game during her freshman season and ranked third on the team in scoring (7.2 ppg) and rebounding (3.7 rpg) during Horizon League play. She started the final 22 games a season ago and also led the team in shooting, hitting 56.2% of shots (77-of-137) in '19-20. 

Fox had a career weekend at UIC on Dec. 19-20, recording back-to-back double-doubles, her first two career double-doubles. She had 12 points, 11 rebounds in an overtime setback before scoring a game and career-high 16 points, adding 11 more caroms (seven offensive) in a 72-58 win. Fox leads the team and ranks ninth in the HL in rebounding this season at 6.4 caroms per game and has four games of seven rebounds and six games of five or more boards. Fox is also fourth on the team in scoring (7.6 ppg) and is shooting 57.9% from the floor and 70.8% at the free throw line. She has a team-high 21 offensive rebounds.

Stormin' Norman
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 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. Norman has three games already of five or more assists, including six in the HL opener against Wright State on Dec. 12. She leads the Horizon League early in the season in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7) and has a team-high 26 assists, also ranking fourth in the HL in assists per game (3.3).

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 and 11 more against Wright State on Dec. 13 and then a season-best 18 at UIC on Dec. 19. She ranks second on the squad in scoring (11.0 points per game) and second in 3-pointers made (10), while making 10-of-21 shots from deep for a 47.6 clip. McCormick is also among the Horizon League leaders from the free throw line, sinking 30-of-39 shots, ranking fifth in the league rankings in free throw percentage (76.9) and tied-for-second in free throws made (30). McCormick ranked third on the team as a freshman a season ago in scoring at 7.0 points per game. She is also third on the team in assists this season with 13.

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 20 of 38 career games. She has made 59 triples and 1.6 treys per game in her Titan career.

High-Powered Hoskin 
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. 

She has started all eight games for the Titans and has multiple rebounds in all eight contests, including five or more boards in five games, ranking second on the team with 4.6 caroms per contest early in 2020-21. Hoskin also leads the squad in steals with 11.

Reiff Lone Senior in 2020-21
Second-year Titan and fourth-year player Aly Reiff (South Whitley, Ind.) is the lone senior for the Titans in 2020-21. The Xavier transfer played in all 30 games for her first season for the Titans in 2019-20, making nine starts. She ranked third on the squad in steals (21) and was fourth in 3-pointers made (17) a season ago, averaging 4.7 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. 

Reiff has played in all eight games this season and 95 overall in her Division I career. She recorded her fifth career game in double figures with 10 points in a 72-58 win at UIC on Dec. 20, making all four free throws and grabbing six rebounds. Reiff has 41 career 3-pointers across her four-year career and 48 steals. She is fourth on the team in rebounding (3.0) in 2020-21.

Milestone Watch
With a win this season, head coach AnnMarie Gilbert is just 12 wins from 300 in her career as the leader of a program. She has wins at three different levels and four different schools -- amassing 135 at Division II Virginia Union, 94 at Eastern Michigan, 58 at her alma mater Oberlin, where she began her coaching career. In addition, she has 149 league wins all-time, just one off 150 in her career.

Junior guard Kaela Webb has 96 steals in her Division I career (86 at Providence, 10 at Detroit Mercy), just four shy away from 100 in her collegiate career. Webb, who scored 598 points in her first two seasons at Providence, also has 747 career points and is 253 points away from 1,000 in her career.

Up Next
Following the pair of games this weekend against Milwaukee, Detroit Mercy returns to the hardwood next weekend, Friday and Saturday, Jan. 8-9, when the Titans visit Green Bay for a pair of HL road contests. Game times for both games are 2 p.m. ET and 1 p.m. locally in Wisconsin. The contests may be seen live on ESPN-Plus.