DETROIT (12/7/22) – The Detroit Mercy women's basketball team opens resumes non-conference play with a pair of home games against Miami Hamilton and Georgia Southern. The Titans and Harriers tip off on Thursday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. followed by the Titans and Eagles on Sunday, Dec. 11 at 1 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live from Dick Vitale Court at Calihan Hall on ESPN+ with Denny Kapp and Tara Fleming on the call.

Notes:
LAST TIME OUT: Strong Fourth Quarter Shooting Propels Detroit Mercy Past Miami Hamilton
Detroit Mercy 91 vs Miami Hamilton 85 (12/8/22)
DETROIT (12-8-22) - Trailing 65-57 heading into the fourth quarter, Detroit Mercy posted a season-high 34 points on 10-of-13 shooting (76.9%) in the fourth quarter led by senior Imani McNeal who poured in a career-high 23 points on 6-of-9 shooting while adding a career-best 11-for-12 from the free throw line with three assists as the Titans held off Miami Hamilton 91-86 to snap a four-game skid on Thursday night at Calihan Hall. The 91 points were the most the Titans have scored since defeating UIC, 98-76, in 2016.
 
SCOUTING THE EAGLES: Georgia Southern is a member of the Sun Belt conference with a 6-1 record on the season having won the last four consecutive games heading into their home contest against Chicago State (12/9). The Eagles are led by junior guard/forward Terren Ward Destiny who leads the team in scoring (15.2) and rebounds per game (7.7). Junior guard Constance Thomas is tops on the team in assists per game (5.2).
 
ALL TIME SERIES: Detroit Mercy hold a 1-0 series lead as the Titans downed Georgia Southern 82-79 on Nov. 30, 2013.

A LOOK AT THE HARRIERS: Miami Hamilton is 4-6 and are led by sophomore guard A'Vyonna Kinsey who leads the team in scoring (11.5 ppg) followed by freshman forward Juliana Kemper who tops the team in rebounds per game (6.3) and sophomore guard Laci Reinhart who leads the squad in assists per game (1.6).
 
ALL TIME SERIES: This is the first meeting between Detroit Mercy and Miami Hamilton.
 
SCOUTING THE EAGLES: Georgia Southern is a member of the Sun Belt conference with a 6-1 record on the season having won the last four consecutive games heading into their home contest against Chicago State (12/9). The Eagles are led by junior guard/forward Terren Ward Destiny who leads the team in scoring (15.2) and rebounds per game (7.7). Junior guard Constance Thomas is tops on the team in assists per game (5.2).
 
ALL TIME SERIES: Detroit Mercy hold a 1-0 series lead as the Titans downed Georgia Southern 82-79 on Nov. 30, 2013.

EN FUEGO FOURTH QUARTER: Trailing 65-57 heading into the fourth quarter, Detroit Mercy posted a season-high 34 points on 10-of-13 shooting (76.9%) in the fourth quarter to rally past Miami Hamilton (12/8).

MCNEAL BREAKS OUT: Imani McNeal who poured in a career-high 23 points on 6-of-9 shooting while adding a career-best 11-for-12 from the free throw line with three assists against Miami Hamilton (12/8).

A LONG TIME COMING: The 91 points against Miami Hamilton were the most the Titans have scored since defeating UIC, 98-76, in 2016.

NATIONAL BLOCK PARTY: Sophomore Emma Trawally Porta is picking up where she left of last season leading the league and is one of the best shot blockers in the nation ranking third in blocks per game (3.6 – 3rd Nationally) and total blocks (18 – 14th Nationally). She has posted four blocks in each of the first three games just missing her career-high of five by one at North Dakota (11/8), at Xavier (11/10) and against Canisius (11/13). She also posted three blocks against NIU (11/22) and at Bowling Green (11/28).
 
Before her season was cut short last year due to injury, she ranked fifth in the league in blocks per game (1.3) while posting a career-high five blocks vs NKU (1/13) and seven blocks over a two-game span with four blocks against IUPUI (12/2) and three at Akron (11/29).
 
CRASH THE BOARDS: Detroit Mercy leads the Horizon League in rebounds per game (46.8 – 31st Nationally), offensive rebounds per game (16.0 – 23rd Nationally) and rebounding margin (11.6 – 43rd Nationally) while ranking second in defensive rebounds per game (30.8) and total rebounds (305).
 
GRAB THE ROCK: Junior Irene Murua ranks second in the league in rebounds per game (10.0 – 15th Nationally) and leads the league offensive rebounds per game (4.4 – 14th Nationally) followed by Trawally Porta (8.2) who is fourth and Burch (6.1).
 
DOMINATE THE GLASS: The Titans grabbed a season-high 61 rebounds in the win over Canisius. The last time the team grabbed that many boards was 58 against Marygrove on 11/16/14. In the season opener at North Dakota, the Titans were dominant in the boards crashing the glass with 49 rebounds and 20 offensive boards that led to 20 second-chance points. 28 of the those came from two players as junior Murua who grabbed a career-high 17 boards while sophomore Trawally Porta pulled down 11 rebounds.
 
GET THAT DUB-DUB: Murua posted her first double-double of the season scoring a team-high 16 points while grabbing 11 rebounds with three steals in the win against Canisius (11/13) and added her second with 13 points and 11 rebounds at Purdue Fort Wayne (12/2).
 
Freshman Amaya Burch posted her first career double-double scoring a career and game-high 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting and 5-of-11 from three-point range while grabbing a career-best 11 rebounds.
 
Trawally Porta posted her first career-double matching a career-best 10 points with 10 rebounds while going 2-for-2 from 3-point range and dishing a career-best three assists with four blocks defensively at Xavier (11/10).
 
DOING WORK DOWN LOW: Detroit Mercy has done most of the scoring this season down low in the paint. In total, 178 of Detroit Mercy's 359 points (55%) have be scored down low. The Titans scored 24 points in the paint at North Dakota and at Xavier and had 42 points in the paint of their 70 total points in the home opening against Canisius and another 42 points in the paint against NIU.
 
POST PLAY PRODUCTIVITY: Trawally Porta leads the team in field goal percentage (57.6%) followed by Murua in second (44.9%).
 
BAKER OFF THE BENCH: Sophomore Akyia Baker matched a career-high scoring eight points coming off the bench at CSU (12/4).
 
BLUNT IN THE BOOKS: After sitting out last season, sophomore Taylor Blunt played 11 minutes hitting a 3-pointer in her first career game for the Titans at Bowling Green.
 
BURCH NAMED NIKE® #HLWBB FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: Amaya Burch was named Nike® Horizon League Freshman of the Week announced by the league office on Monday. Burch, a native of Sicklerville, NJ, had quite the collegiate debut averaging 12.7 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game (17 total) per game in three games last week reaching double figures in all three contests helping Detroit Mercy to 1-2 non-conference start to the season.
 
BURCH GETTING' BUCKETS: Burch has had no problem making the transition from high school to college basketball by leading the team in scoring (12.2) which ranks sixth in the Horizon League. She has scored in double figures in every game so far. After posting 20 points in exhibition action against Davenport (11/2), she poured in a team-high 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting with four rebounds in her official collegiate debut at North Dakota (11/7) and followed that with 11 points while grabbing seven rebounds at Xavier (11/10) and 12 points against Canisius (11/13) in the Titans first win of the season. She posted her first career double-double scoring a career and game-high 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting and 5-of-11 from three-point range while grabbing a career-best 11 rebounds.
 
SHE'S A HOOPER: Freshman point guard Myonna Hooper ranks 12th in the Horizon League in assist per game (2.4). With 3.5 seconds remaining and Detroit Mercy clinging to three-point lead, she calmly stepped up and hit two clutch free throws to ice the game giving the Titans a 70-65 win over Canisius in the home opener and finished the game with 12 points and two assists.
 
In her first career start, Hooper chipped in with seven points while dishing out a team-best five assists and three rebounds at Xavier (11/10). In her collegiate debut, she scored nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range with four assists at North Dakota (11/8).
 
MIGHTY MAITE OFF THE BENCH: Freshman Maite Lara Garcia came off the bench scoring a career-high 11 points going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field with six rebounds against NIU (11/22). She chipped in with seven points going 2-for-2 from the free throw line and 1-for-1 from 3-point range in her Titan debut at North Dakota (11/8).
 
1,300 IN THE BOOKS: Not only did the Titans' 70-65 home opening win over Canisius (11/13) snap a 24-game home court losing streak, it was also the 1,300th game played in program history.
 
SOLID DAY AT THE LINE: In the victory against Canisius (11/13), the Titans shot a season-best 22-for-28 (78.6%) with four players in Murua (2-2), Trawally Porta (2-2), McNeal (5-5) and freshman Maite Lara Garcia (2-2) were perfect from the line. Individually, Imani McNeal ranks fifth in the league (84.6).
 
TRAWALLY PORTA FOR 3…SÍ: Last season, Trawally Porta only made one career 3-pointer against North Dakota. This season she has already doubled up hitting a career-best 2-for-2 from long range at Xavier (11/10) and added another 3-ball against NIU (11/22).
 
PUT IN THE WORK: Murua (31.6), McNeal (28.3) rank fifth and 16th respectively in the HL in minutes per game.
 
TIME FOR SOME MACTION: This season, Detroit Mercy played two teams from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) as the Titans fell in a home heartbreaker against Northern Illinois (11/22) followed by a setback at Head Coach Kate Achter's alma mater Bowling Green (11/28). Detroit Mercy was supposed to play three consecutive games against at MAC school but the game at Western Michigan (11/19) was canceled due to inclement weather in the Kalamazoo, Mich. area.

SEASON REWIND:
Detroit Mercy 30 at Cleveland State 86 (12/4/22)
Junior Irene Murua reached double figures for the fourth time this season scoring 11 points while grabbing five rebounds while sophomore Akyia Baker matched a career-best adding eight points off the bench with two assists and two rebounds as Detroit Mercy could not get the offense going at Clevland State falling 86-30 on Sunday afternoon in #HLWBB action on Sunday afternoon at the Wolstein Center. Freshman Ana Cabañas Llorens also set a career-best coming off the bench with six points, three rebounds, and two assists. Junior Lucia Fleta Robles and freshman Maite Lara Garcia each chipped in with three points.

Detroit Mercy 49 at Purdue Fort Wayne 58 (12/2/22)
Junior Irene Murua recorded her second double-double of the season scoring a team-high 13 points while grabbing 11 rebounds for the second consecutive game with two assists as Detroit Mercy came up short in a defensive battle at Purdue Fort Wayne, 58-49, in #HLWBB opening action on Friday night at the Gates Sports Center.
 
Detroit Mercy 29 at BGSU 76 (11/28/22)
Junior Irene Murua just missed her second double-double of the season scoring eight points while grabbing 11 rebounds while sophomore Emma Trawally Porta added six points with three blocks as Detroit Mercy had a tough night at the office falling 76-29 at Bowling Green on Monday at the Stroh Center.
 
Detroit Mercy 63 vs Northern Illinois 65 (11/22/22)
With three seconds left in the game, sophomore Emma Trawally Porta took an inbound pass from senior Imani McNeal, turned towards the baseline, and hit a pull-up jumper tying the game a 63-63 with 0.6 seconds left on the clock to cap off a furious Detroit Mercy come back. The game was looking to be heading to overtime. However, after Northern Illinois took a timeout to advance the ball to half-court, Emily Meinert broke free on a back-door cut, took a long inbounds pass from Chelby Koker and made the game-winning lay-up just beating the buzzer giving the Huskies a 65-63 win on Thursday evening at Calihan Hall.
 
Detroit Mercy 70 vs Canisius 65 (11/13/22)
With 3.5 seconds remaining and Detroit Mercy clinging to three-point lead, freshman Myonna Hooper calmly stepped up and hit two clutch free throws to ice the game giving the Titans a 70-65 win over Canisius in the home opener on Sunday afternoon at Calihan Hall. The win snapped a 24-game home court losing skid. Junior Irene Murua posted her first double-double of the season and was one of four players in double figures scoring a team-high 16 points while grabbing 11 rebounds with three steals. Hooper finished with 12 points going 8-for-12 from the charity stripe with two assists.
 
Detroit Mercy 57 at Xavier 71 (11/10/22)
Sophomore Emma Trawally Porta posted her first career-double matching a career-best 10 points with 10 rebounds while going 2-for-2 from 3-point range and dishing a career-best three assists with four blocks defensively for the second consecutive game in the losing effort as Detroit Mercy fell 71-57 at Xavier on Thursday night at the Cintas Center.
 
Detroit Mercy 61 at North Dakota 70 (11/7/22)
Sophomore Emma Trawally Porta had quite the all-around performance scoring nine points while grabbing a career-best 11 rebounds with four blocks just missing her career-high by one. Junior Irene Murua added six points and grabbed a career-high 17 boards as Detroit Mercy battled before falling 70-61 at North Dakota in season opening action on Monday night at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
 
EXHIBITION REWIND:
Detroit Mercy 73 vs Davenport 64 (11/2/22)
Freshman Amaya Burch had quite the collegiate debut scoring a game-high 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting going a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line while grabbing seven rebounds as Detroit Mercy used a late 11-2 fourth quarter run to move past Davenport in exhibition action on Wednesday night at Calihan Hall. Junior Irene Murua picked up where left off last season posting a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds going 5-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-6 from the free throw line while dishing a team-high five assists. Senior Imani McNeal was the third Titan in double figures with 14 points. Freshman Maite Lara Garcia and Ana Cabañas Llorens each had solid collegiate debuts as Lara Garcia had nine points going 7-for-8 from the charity stripe with seven boards while Cabañas Llorens chipped in with seven points and a team-second best four assists and two steals.