DETROIT (1/15/2021) -- Sophomore guard
Markyia McCormick scored a career-high 21 points, including 13 in the third quarter alone, and junior guard
Alicia Norman registered a career-high seven steals, but it was not enough as the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team fell, 80-61, to visiting Oakland on Friday afternoon from Calihan Hall.
McCormick was 7-of-18 from the field with a couple of 3-pointers for her first career 20-plus scoring effort to go along with four rebounds and three steals. In addition to her Titan season-best seven steals, Norman had seven points and four assists. Senior
Aly Reiff, playing in her 100th career Division I game, netted a season-high 13 points and junior
Cierra Harrison posted eight points and a career-best seven rebounds.
Detroit Mercy, which entered the game as the Horizon League leader in steals with 103, had 13 more steals in the contest, a season-high. Norman's seven steals were the most for a Horizon League player in a game this season and the most for a Titan player in a contest since the 2003-04 season.
The Titans (1-12, 1-8 HL) trailed for much of the first quarter, but started to chip away and eventually took a one-point lead, 32-31, in the second stanza, but Oakland (5-7, 5-4 HL) was able to go on two long runs to take control of the contest.
Sophomore guard
Sylare Starks started the game with a basket, but Oakland scored seven-straight points after that. Two free throws by McCormick had the Titans within two, 12-10, but the Golden Grizzlies would not give back the lead, opening a 16-9 advantage with 2:22 left in the first 10 minutes. Detroit Mercy fought back with buckets from Harrison and Reiff to make it 16-13 and had another spurt at the end of the half as Reiff hit a three and Norman came up with a steal and a layup as the Titans trailed 21-18 after one.
Norman's defense helped produce back-to-back scores again early in the second quarter as McCormick hit a jumper and off a steal, McCormick laid it in again to get the team within one point, 23-22. The Titans would battle back and eventually take a one-point lead, 31-30 with 3:27 remaining in the opening half as sophomore
Bridgid Fox found Harrison for a 3-pointer and off a miss, Reiff nailed one from the paint. The game was then tied at 32-32 with 2:57 left, but Oakland was able to end the half on a 12-3 run for 44-35 advantage at the break. Norman had five steals alone in the first half.
Oakland came out with a 10-2 run to start the third quarter, but that ended as Norman got to the rim for a bucket and the foul and her three-point play had the team down 54-40 with 6:28 left in the third. Detroit Mercy was down, 58-40, when McCormick caught fire scoring nine-straight points to make it a nine-point deficit, 58-49, with 3:22 left in the stanza. She started the spurt with two free throws and then off a steal, converted on a lay-up. Her run continued with a 3-pointer the next time down the floor and after Norman's sixth steal, she got inside for another basket. She later added her second triple for 13 points in the quarter, but the Titans trailed 66-52 at the end of the frame.
The fourth saw the Titans struggle to score early on as Reiff's jumper five minutes into the final stanza ended an Oakland 11-0 run. That started a Titan spurt as Starks nailed another three and two free throws from Fox cut it to 77-59 with 2:57 on the clock.
Starks ended the game with seven points and four rebounds and Fox grabbed six boards for the Titans. The Titans shot 36.1% from the field with six 3-pointers and came away with a season-high 13 steals. The Titans also held the turnover edge in the game with Oakland turning it over 22 times against 19 for the red, white and blue.
Titan News & Notes
• McCormick scored in double figures for the sixth time in 2020-21 and topped her previous career-high of 19 points, set last season at Eastern Michigan.
• Norman's seven steals were the most for a Titan player since Melissa Harakas had seven steals against YSU on Feb. 26, 2004.
• The seven thefts were also the most by a Horizon League player this season.
• Reiff scored in double figures for the second time this season and sixth time in her Division I career.
• It was also the most points Reiff has scored in a Titan uniform, surpassing the 11 she scored last season on Feb. 29, 2020 against Wright State.
• The last Titan with six or more steals in a game was
Zoey Oatis at UIC on Jan. 13, 2019.
• With 13 steals, it marked the fifth time this season the Titans have totaled 10 or more steals in a game.
• It was the 32nd all-time meeting between the two programs with Oakland holding a 17-15 edge.
Up Next
Detroit Mercy and Oakland will conclude the #MetroSeries on Saturday from Calihan Hall with tip-off set for 1 p.m. The game may be seen live via ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN Applications.
