CLEVELAND (1-10-24) - Graduate student Imani McNeal posted a season-high 20 points matching a career-best 9-for-12 from the field going 2-for-4 from 3-point range with five rebounds and three steals as Detroit Mercy fell 74-53 at Cleveland State in the #HLWBB battle for second place on Wednesday night at the Wolstein Center.  

Senior Irene Murua had 12 points going 8-for-9 from the free throw line with eight rebounds. Senior Jada Moorehead had five points with five rebounds while freshman Paris Gilmore and sophomore Myonna Hooper also each chipped in with five points each.

Defense was at a premium for both teams as Detroit Mercy (11-6, 4-2 HL) had only five steals but was able to score 25 points off 16 CSU (14-3, 5-1 HL) turnovers. However, the Vikings grabbed 16 steals and added 23 points off a season-high 28 UDM turnovers. 

Buckets were hard to come by to open the game. Neither team had any points until Murua hit a pair of free throws at the 6:47 mark. McNeal hit a floater for UDM's first field goal of the game cutting CSU's lead in half at 8-4 with 3:37 left. The Vikings went on to hold the Titans to only two more points for the rest of the frame to lead 17-6.

UDM's offense got going on a 5-0 spurt to open the second quarter but still trailed by nine pts, 26-15. However, the Vikings end the frame on a 13-6 run to lead by 18, 39-21, heading into the locker room.

The Titans opened the third quarter finally connecting from long range as McNeal hit a pair of triples along with one from Hooper but UDM could not cut into the Vikings' double-digit lead trailing by 16 at 51-35 at the 3:15 mark. Despite Detroit Mercy matching CSU with 20 points in the frame, they still trailed by 18 points heading into the fourth quarter. 

Gilmore hit her only 3-pointer cutting the deficit to 15 points at 59-44 with 8:51 to go. However, that would be as close as the Titans would get as the Vikings went on to maintain the double-digit lead the rest of the way.

Detroit Mercy travels to Rochester, Mich. for a #MetroSereis rematch at arch-rival Oakland on Saturday, Jan 13, at 2 p.m.