DETROIT (11/28/21) – The Detroit Mercy women's basketball team continues non-conference play after the Thanksgiving holiday break at Akron on Monday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. The will be broadcast live from the James A. Rhodes Arena on ESPN3.
 
Notes:
A LOOK AT AKRON: Akron is 2-2 with wins against Slippery Rock and Robert Morris. The Zips finished the 2020-21 campaign with a 7-14 overall record and 4-4 MAC mark. Akron has played two common Detroit Mercy opponents defeating RMU (60-50) before falling to at Youngstown State (57-55). The Zips are led by redshirt senior forward Jordyn Dawson who leads the team in scoring (13.8 ppg), rebounds (7.4) and assists (1.8).
 
TIME FOR SOME MACTION: Akron marks the second of three teams from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Detroit Mercy will play this season which began at Eastern Michigan (11/13). The Titans will also host Western Michigan on Dec. 8 at Calihan Hall.
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN: Detroit Mercy holds a 4-1 all-time advantage over Akron. The last time the two schools met was almost 25 years to the date on Dec. 6, 1996 when the Titans won 111-72.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
Senior Monique Pruitt put forth a solid overall effort posting a team-high 16 points on 7-of-19 shooting with seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Sophomore Irene Murua also posted her second consecutive double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds and four assists as Detroit Mercy dropped a hard-fought non-conference game at Canisius (11/23). Graduate student Brandi Washington also poured in a team-high 16 points going 3-for-7 from 3-point range.
 
MURUA LEADS THE WAY: Sophomore Irene Murua leads the team in scoring (10.3 ppg), rebounds per game (7.4), assists per game (1.8) and field goal percentage shooting a blistering 53.7% (22-for-41) from the field.
 
MAKE IT A DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Murua posted her first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds vs YSU (11/20) and followed with second consecutive double-double with 10 points and career-high 12 rebounds and four assists at Canisius (11/23).
 
CLEANING THE GLASS: Detroit Mercy leads in the Horizon League in offensive rebounds per game (13.2) after posting a season-high 19 at Canisius (11/23).
 
I'LL TAKE THAT: Detroit Mercy also ranks second in the league in steals (9.60). Against RMU, 9-of-12 players who entered the game recorded at least one steal led by Brandi Washington with three and Irene McNeal with two for a total of 12. They also followed with 12 steals against YSU led by a career-high six from Searcy who ranks second in the league at 2.8 per game.
 
DEFENSIVE FOUNDATION: Detroit Mercy ranks third in the league in turnover margin (2.20) with opponents committing a league second-most 107 turnovers against the Titans at 21.4 per game.
 
CONSECUTIVE 3-POINTERS MADE STREAK: The Titans have made at least one 3-pointer in 361 consecutive games dating back to March 5, 2009. The last game the Titans didn't sink one 3-pointer from the field was against Wright State on Feb. 28, 2009, when the team went 0-for-11 from beyond the arc.
 
DYNAMIC SCORING DUO: Murua and Searcy are tops on the team in scoring at 10.2 ppg and 8.8 ppg respectively.
 
PRODUCTION FROM THE LINE: Imani McNeal leads the Titans from the free throw line at 69.2% (9-for-13) followed by Murua at a 70.0% (7-for-10) clip.
 
PRUITT POURED IT IN: 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 at Eastern Michigan last (11/13).
 
SOLID DEBUT: At Loyola, Murua led 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.
 
VIVA ESPAÑA: Ana Cabañas Llorens will join the Detroit women's basketball team as part of the 2022-23 recruiting class marking the fifth student-athlete from Spain to be on the roster for next season.

SEASON REWIND:
Detroit Mercy 55 vs Youngstown State 64 (11/20/21)
Irene Murua tallied 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds for her first career double-double. Graduate senior Daija Moses had 12 points and six rebounds and graduate senior Brandi Washington netted 10 points. with five boards, two assists, a block and a steal as Detroit Mercy put the pressure on all game long, coming away with 14 steals, as the Titans fell to Youngstown State, 64-56, on Saturday at Calihan Hall.
 
Detroit Mercy 46 vs Robert Morris 55 (11/18/21)
Irene Murua scored a team-high 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting while grabbing a team-best seven rebounds. Sydney Searcy added nine points followed by Daija Moses with eight points and four rebounds as Detroit Mercy dropped the home and Horizon League opener to Robert Morris, 55-46, at Calihan Hall. Imani McNeal turned in a solid overall effort with six points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals while Brandi Washington chipped in with seven points, four rebounds and team-high three steals.
 
Detroit Mercy 66 at Eastern Michigan 76 (11/9/21)
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).
 
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 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.
 
2021-22 HORIZON LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL: Detroit Mercy was picked to finish last in the 2021 HL Preseason Poll with 16 points.