DETROIT (11/17/21) – The Detroit Mercy women's basketball team opens the home slate of the 2021-22 season with a pair of Horizon League games against Robert Morris and Youngstown State. The Titans and Colonials tip off on Thursday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. followed by the Titans and Penguins on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 2 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live from Dick Vitale Court at Calihan Hall on ESPN+ with Denny Kapp on the call.
 
Notes:
A LOOK AT ROBERT MORRIS:
Robert Morris is 0-2 on the season and was picked to finish ninth in the 2021-22 #HLWBB Preseason Poll. RMU finished the 2020-21 campaign with a 4-12 overall record and 4-13 league mark. The Colonials are led by preseason All-Horizon League second team selection Sol Castro who led the team in scoring last year at 9.9 ppg and 5.5 rebounds per game.
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN:
With the pair of games being canceled last season, this will be the first meeting between the two schools.
 
SCOUTING YOUNGSTOWN STATE:
Youngstown State is a perfect 2-0 on the season after wins over Eastern Michigan and Akron and was picked to finish in a seventh-place tie with Wright State in the 2021-22 #HLWBB Preseason Poll. YSU finished the 2020-21 campaign with a 10-8 overall record and 9-7 league mark and fell to Milwaukee in the HL championship quarterfinals. The Penguins are led by preseason All-Horizon League second team selection Chelsea Olson who was third on the team in scoring last season at 10.4 ppg and second at 4.3 rebounds per game.
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN:
Detroit Mercy holds a slim 23-22 record against YSU with both games being canceled last season. However, the Penguins have won the last four consecutive games.
 
LAST TIME OUT: PRUITT POURING IT IN:
Detroit Mercy 66 at Eastern Michigan 76 (11/9/21)
Senior Monique Pruitt poured in a game and career-high 23 points on 7-for-18 shooting and 9-for-11 from the free throw line. Sydney Searcy also reached in double figures with 13 points as Detroit Mercy battle before falling to a late fourth quarter run at Eastern Michigan last Saturday (11/13).
 
DOUBLE FIGURE DUO:
Through the first two games, Pruitt and Searcy both are averaging in double figures at 11.5 ppg and 10.0 ppg respectively.
 
PERFECT FROM THE LINE:
Imani McNeal is a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line while Pruitt is shooting at a 81.8% clip going 9-for-11.
 
DEFENSIVE FOUNDATION:
Despite the setback, the Titans were solid on the defensive end grabbing seven steals while forcing 18 Loyola turnovers in the season opener. At EMU, Detroit Mercy had eight steals and also forced the Eagles to 21 turnovers.
 
SOLID DEBUT:
Against Loyola, Irene Murua lead the way with a team-high 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting with four rebounds, three assists and three steals in her season debut for the Titans at Loyola.
 
SEASON REWIND:
Detroit Mercy 40 at Loyola 63 (11/9/21)
Sophomore Irene Murua put together a solid performance scoring 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting with four rebounds, three assists and three steals while Sydney Searcy added seven points and two assists with a team-high six rebounds and four steals as Detroit Mercy fell 63-40 at Loyola in the season opener on Tuesday night at Gentile Arena. Daija Moses had six points with five rebounds and three assists while Janna Lewis also added six points with three rebounds. Brandi Washington and Imani McNeal chipped in with five and four points respectively.
 
Detroit Mercy 66 vs Wayne State 73 OT (Exhibition 11/4/21)
The Detroit Mercy women's basketball team placed four players in double figures as senior Monique Pruitt scored a team-high 15 points followed by 14 points from graduate student Janna Lewis and 11 points each from graduate students Sydney Searcy and Tori Powell and the Titans fell 73-66 in overtime to cross-town foe Wayne State in exhibition action on at Calihan Hall.
 
NEW LOOK SQUAD: The Titans will take the floor this season with an entirely new team consisting of 14 newcomers with nine student-athletes from the US, four from Spain and one from Canada.
Florida (2) - Sydney Searcy, graduate student, A'Moni Waiters, junior
Georgia (1) – Imani McNeal, junior
Illinois (1) –Monique Pruitt, senior
Kentucky (1) - Janna Lewis, grad student
Louisiana (1) - Brandi Washington, grad student
New Jersey (1) – Akyia Baker, freshman
North Carolina (1) – Tori Powell, grad student
Pennsylvania (1) – Taylor Blunt, freshman
Canada (1) – Daija Moses, grad student
 
SPANISH CONNECTION: This year's squad features four players from Spain with sophomores Irene Murua and Lucia Fleta Robles and two freshmen, Sonia Pereda and Emma Trawally Porta.
 
LEADER OF THE PACK: LaTanya Collins was named an assistant coach for the Titans in June 2020 and then named the interim head coach for the program on June 15, 2021. Coach Collins joined the staff with more than 12 years of collegiate coaching experience. She enters her second season with the Titan program in 2021-22.
 
Collins has 69 head coaching victories across four seasons and has vast experience coaching at different levels, which includes stops at fellow Division I programs Coppin State, Marist, Radford and Virginia Tech, among others.
 
Prior to joining the program at Detroit Mercy, Collins was the head coach at Harford Community College in Bel Air, Maryland, recording a mark of 22-4 and taking over a roster that had no players and building a team that began the year on an eight-game winning streak and received votes nationally in the Top-25 NJCAA Poll by season's end. Under Collins guidance, Harford led the NJCAA in points allowed per game (48.6), along with steals per game (16.9), while also finishing second in blocks per game (8.4).
 
Under the tutelage of Collins, Harford guard Kelvajha Foster earned NJCAA Division I All-American honors and she helped produce two All-Maryland JUCO Conference players in Foster and Tsahai Corbie.
 
COACHING STAFF: Coach Collins has added a brand-new coaching staff in Associate Head Coach Wanika Owsley, Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator Stephanie Edwards, Assistant Coach Damon Thornton and Director of Basketball Operations Dashia Chandler.
 
2021HORIZON LEGAUE PRESEASON POLL: Detroit Mercy was picked to finish last in the 2021 HL Preseason Poll with 16 points.