DETROIT (1/16/2021) Junior Cierra Harrison scored a career-high 14 points to lead four Titans in double figures and several comeback attempts kept the team in the game, but it was not enough as the University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball team dropped a 71-61 Metro Series contest to Oakland on Saturday from Calihan Hall.

Harrison also pulled down a career-best nine boards. Sophomore forward Sammiyah Hoskin scored 10 points and tallied a career-best 13 rebounds for her first career double-double as a Titan. Sophomore Sylare Starks netted 11 points with six rebounds and three assists and senior Aly Reiff had 10 points and six rebounds. 

The Titans (1-13, 1-9 HL) were once again shorthanded due to injuries playing without leading scorer Kaela Webb, Annika Corcoran and Maxine Moore.

Detroit Mercy was behind much of the game, including 33-25 at the break, but the Titans came out with a 9-0 run in the third to tie the game at 38-38. In the fourth quarter, the red, white and blue scored the stanza's first four points to once again halve the score at 50-50, but Oakland's (6-7, 6-4 HL) 7-0 run gave the visitors the lead and another 10-1 spurt late in the game put the contest away. 

The game was tied four times early on, the latest at 11-11 as Hoskin had a layup off a nice pass from junior Alicia Norman. Hoskin would also come up with an offensive rebound and putback to get the team within three points, 16-13, after one quarter of play.

The Titans trailed by five points, 18-13, early in the second when Hoskin again was the catalyst as Harrison pulled down an offensive rebound and Starks then found Hoskin for another basket inside. The team was down by eight, 23-15, when Harrison lined up and drained a three from the right side. Starks and sophomore guard Markyia McCormick then had back-to-back baskets to pull the red, white and blue within four, 26-22, and Reiff later added a jumper to make it 29-25, but the Titans trailed at the break, 33-25. 

The Titans came out strong in the third quarter and started to chip away, eventually tying the score. Hoskin and Harrison had back-to-back buckets to pull the team within six, 35-29. Fox then got inside for a score and a foul and her free throw made it 38-32. After the Titans played some great defense, she scored again and was fouled, but Reiff took the free throw due to an injury and the three-point play had the team down by just three, 38-35, with 6:31 left. After another stop on defense, Starks got fouled and split a pair of free throws and off an Oakland turnover, McCormick hit a jumper and it was all tied up at 38-38.

The Golden Grizzlies would score six in a row to counter the Titan 9-0 run, but a 3-pointer from Harrison had the team down by just two, 48-46, and they went into the final quarter down by just four points, 50-46. 

The Titans attacked the Golden Grizzlies in the fourth quarter as a stop on defense led to a score by Hoskin and then McCormick came up with a huge steal and score the other way to knot it at 50-50 with 7:10 left. Oakland would answer with a 7-0 spurt to once take the lead, but off an offensive rebound, Reiff knocked in a triple to make it 57-53 with just 5:18 remaining. Detroit Mercy could not get one more run as a 10-1 Oakland spurt followed that was too much to overcome.

McCormick had seven points, three steals, two rebounds and two assists and sophomore Bridgid Fox finished with seven points and three rebounds. Norman had a team-best four assists for the Titans. The Titans shot 41.7% for the game with five triples and were 6-of-9 at the line, while out-rebounding Oakland, 40-31.

Detroit Mercy had 16 offensive rebounds, the second-most in a game this season, including five each from Reiff and Hoskin. The Titans shot above 40% in three of the four quarters, including 53% in the third quarter as the Titans out-scored Oakland during the stanza, 21-17.

Titan News & Notes
• Hoskin's double-double was her first career at the Division I level and third by a Titan player this season.
• Harrison scored in double figures for the first time in her Titan career, surpassing her career-high of eight that she achieved twice this season.
• McCormick tallied three steals for the third occasion in 2020-21.
• Reiff scored in double figures for the second-straight game and seventh time in her Division I career.
• The Titans pulled down 40 rebounds for the third time this season and had 16 offensive boards, the second-most this season.
• The Titans shot above the 40-percent mark for the fourth time this season.
• It was the 33rd all-time meeting in the series between the two programs (Oakland leads series, 18-15).

Up Next
Detroit Mercy returns to the court next weekend on the road, heading to Ohio to face Youngstown State on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 22-23. Both games are set for 2 p.m. ET start times and both may be seen live on ESPN-Plus.