INDIANAPOLIS (3-1-25) - Senior
Katie Burton had quite the homecoming as the Fishers, Ind. native recorded her first career-double scoring a career-best 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting while grabbing a career-best 10 rebounds as Detroit Mercy fell 74-67 at IU Indy in a hard-fought regular season finale on Saturday afternoon.
Graduate student
Emaia O'Brien was the second player in double figures with 11 points while matching a career-best five steals defensively. Freshmen
Kailey Starks also reached double-figures for the sixth time this season with 10 points going a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
Sophomore
Makayla Jackson added eight points followed by seven from junior
Myonna Hooper. Graduate student
Jasmine Edwards chipped in with six points, seven boards and two steals while fifth-year senior
Aaliyah McQueen also had six points and two steals.
After Detroit Mercy (14-14, 8-12 HL) battled back in the second quarter, IU Indy (9-20, 8-12 HL) was able to turn the table in the third quarter, which proved to be the difference in the game. The Jags opened the frame outscoring UDM 13-6 to lead by eight points, 42-34, and went on to double up the Titans 24-12 overall to lead by 13 points, 53-40.
The Titans opened the fourth quarter on a 10-4 run to pull within nine points, 59-50, before the Jags ended the spurt with a 3-pointer to go back up by double-digits at 62-50 with 6:14 left. UDM kept chipping away to pull within five points with 23 seconds left. IU Indy was able to close out the game from the free throw line despite being outscored 27-21 overall in the quarter.
In the first half, the Jags got off to a hot start, moving to a 15-4 lead by the first media timeout. The Titans respond with an 8-3 run of their own to pull within six points, 18-12, at the end of the frame
O'Brien hit UDM's first 3-ball of the game, increasing the run to 15-4 overall, pulling the Titans within three points, 22-19, by the second quarter media timeout. Burton then hit a jumper from the corner tying the game at 23-23. Overall, Detroit Mercy defense proved to be the difference as the Titans got five steals, scoring 12 of their 16 second quarter points off turnovers to trail by one at the break, 29-28.
Detroit Mercy will have to wait until the other league games conclude to see if they enter the 2025 #HLBB Championships as a No. 6 or No. 7 seed. If they are sixth, they will host No. 11 seed Milwaukee on Tuesday. Mar. 4 at 7 p.m. at Calihan Hall on ESPN+. If they finish seventh, they will host the 10th seed at the same date and time.
