CLEVELAND (2-6-25) -  Graduate student Emaia O'Brien was on fire offensively, pouring in a career-high 25 points (19 in the second half) on 9-for-15 from the field while shooting a blistering career-best 6-for-10 from 3-point range with six boards as Detroit Mercy fell 72-55 at Cleveland State on Thursday afternoon at the Wolstein Center. O'Brien became the first player to score 25 points or more since Kayla Webb had 29 at Toledo on Dec. 5, 2020 and the first player to hit six 3-pointers since Webb's six against Indiana State on Nov. 29, 2020.

Fifth-year student Aaliyah McQueen was the only other Titan in double figures with 10 points. Sophomore Makayla Jackson added five points, along with four points from freshman Anna Lassan. Graduate student Jasmine Edwards grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

For the game, Detroit Mercy (12-10, 6-8 HL) posted 15 assists on 21 made baskets but couldn't overcome Cleveland State's (19-5, 10-5 HL) hot shooting in the second half as the Viking went 14-for-25 (56%) and a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range which proved to be the difference. CSU also got 19 points off turnovers and held a 34-18 points in the paint advantage.

Points were hard to come by as both defenses came out grinding, with CSU leading 9-8 by the first media timeout. Each team scored nine points to close out the first frame with UDM trailing 18-17.

The Vikings opened the second quarter on an 8-2 run, but the Titans hung there, only trailing by seven points, 33-26 at the break.

CSU opened the third quarter shooting 5-of-7 to lead by 13 points before O'Brien hit her second 3-ball, cutting the deficit to 10 points, 44-34. She went on to hit another 3-pointer, but UDM still trailed by 10 points, 50-40, going into the fourth and couldn't close ground in the final frame to drop their fifth straight contest.

Detroit Mercy returns home for a game against Milwaukee on Thur, Feb. 6 at 11 a.m. on ESPN+.