The Basics
Final Score: Oakland 65, Detroit Mercy 60
Records: Detroit Mercy 2-19 (2-8 HL), Oakland 9-12 (4-6 HL)
Location: Rochester, Mich. (O'rena)

ROCHESTER, Mich. (2/1/2020) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team got off to a great start Saturday afternoon at Metro Series rival Oakland, but the Titans were unable to pull away in a competitive second half as the Titans fell 65-60 from the O'rena.

Three Titans scored in double figures with sophomore forward Maxine Moore totaling a team-best 15 points, her fourth-straight game in double figures. Freshman guard Annika Corcoran had 13 points and senior Zoey Oatis added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds for the red, white and blue, which shot 42.9-percent from the floor in the game.

The Titans got off to a great start, converting on their first four field goal attempts of the contest to race out to an 8-2 lead. Moore scored on three of those field goals to contribute six points in the opening 2:16 of the contest. The Titans defense was lock-down in the first quarter as OU was just 3-of-18 shooting (16-percent) in the opening quarter. Corcoran drilled a 3-pointer midway through the quarter and Oatis scored on an offensive board and put-back in the final 30 seconds as the Titans led after one, 16-9.

Detroit Mercy made a 10-point lead, 19-9, early in the second quarter after Corcoran made her second 3-pointer of the game early in the frame. The Titans took a 12-point advantage, 26-14, midway through the stanza after Oatis sank a corner trey. Detroit Mercy led at the halftime break, 32-25, shooting 47-percent (11-for-23) in the first half and 50-percent in the second stanza.

Oakland chipped away early in the third quarter but Detroit Mercy again went up by double digits, leading by 10 after freshman guard Sylare Starks made a 3-pointer from the corner. Detroit Mercy led 38-28 with 8:09 left in the third. The Golden Grizzlies had cut the deficit to three by the media timeout in the third quarter, but freshman guard Markyia McCormick connected on a 3-pointer with 3:49 remaining as the red, white and blue doubled its lead to six, 45-39.

After Oakland trimmed the Titan advantage to one point, 46-45, the Titans preceded to score the final four points of the third quarter with Corcoran converting on a tough driving lay-up and Oatis adding a lay-up of her own with just 34 seconds left in the third quarter. Detroit Mercy led by five after three, 51-46.

OU took its first lead of the game, 53-51, at the 7:21 mark in the fourth quarter, but Detroit Mercy followed with a pair of free throws by Starks after she was fouled on a shot. Neither team could score for the next several minutes, before Oakland hit a pair of free throw shots just before the media timeout to lead, 55-53.

Moore backed down her defender and made a turn-around jumper to tie the game again, 55-55, just after the media timeout with 4:20 left, but Oakland responded to score four-straight points to lead 59-55 with 2:52 remaining. Oakland upped its lead to five, but Corcoran made a running jumper to cut the lead to 60-57 with 2:11 left. After OU scored, Oatis answered with an offensive rebound and put-back once again to make it 62-59 with 1:22 remaining.

Oakland split a pair of free throws with 42 seconds left and the Titans called a timeout. Detroit Mercy was able to draw a foul with Moore splitting a pair of free throws to again cut the lead down to three, 63-60, with 37 ticks left. Freshman forward Bridgid Fox grabbed an offensive carom after Moore's second free throw miss and the Titans called another timeout. After the break, Corcoran had a good look at a 3-pointer, but her shot was off the mark and the Titans were forced to foul with 23 seconds left.

Oakland sank both free throws to take a 65-60 lead and on the ensuing possession, the Titans lost the ball out-of-bounds. Detroit Mercy didn't foul with its being a two-possession game and the Golden Grizzlies clinched the victory in their home gym.

Starks added nine points for the Titans, while Fox had seven rebounds and junior Aly Reiff and sophomore Nicole Johanson both collected six boards for the red, white and blue in the game. As a team, Detroit Mercy out-rebounded Oakland, 42-38, but had 20 turnovers to Oakland's nine. Fox also had all three of Detroit Mercy's steals.

Moore made 6-of-11 shots and 3-of-4 from the free throw line for her 15 points. Corcoran was 4-of-9 and 2-of-4 from beyond the 3-point arc. Oatis was also efficient, sinking 5-of-7 field goals in the game.

As a team, Detroit Mercy made 5-of-12 3-point shots (41-percent) and 13-of-18 from the free throw line (72 percent).

Titan News & Notes
• Moore was in double figures scoring for the ninth time in 2019-20 and third-consecutive contest.
• Corcoran scored in double figures for the second-straight game and fifth time in her freshman campaign.
• Oatis had eight or more rebounds for the fourth time this season, while Fox corralled seven rebounds for the fifth time in 2019-20.
• Detroit Mercy shot above 40-percent for the ninth occasion in 2019-20.
• Corcoran went across 50 assists on the season with her ninth contest of three or more assists in her first 21 collegiate games.
• The Titans also tied their season-high with 42 rebounds matching the 42 the team grabbed against Akron at home.
• Starks moved into a tie-for-10th in 3-pointers made (32) in Titan freshmen history, tallying the same mark as former Titan Lola Ristovski.
• It was the 31st meeting in women's basketball between the two Horizon League rivals (OU leads series, 16-15).

Up Next
The Titans return to the court next weekend, playing at home against IUPUI on Thursday, Feb. 6 and then UIC on Saturday, Feb. 8 in Detroit. Thursday's 7 p.m. ET game is the Pink Game with proceeds benefiting Gilda's Club Metro Detroit and Saturday's 1 p.m. ET contest is National Girls & Women in Sports Day from Calihan Hall. Both games are set to be streamed live on ESPN-Plus.