Anytime a program begins a season with a new head coach, the first couple weeks of the season normally always involve some learning and adapting. That can oftentimes lead to results that are less than ideal early on in the season. For the Detroit Mercy Titans women’s basketball team though, the first two games provided a lot to be optimistic about under a new leader.
Standing currently at 1-1, the Titans opened the season at home in a matchup against Valparaiso last week. The Titans used an incredibly hot start to take a 21-3 lead late in the first quarter, but the Beacons bounced back to go on a run at the end of the first quarter and won the second quarter as well to trail by only six at the half (33-27). Detroit Mercy then steadied the ship to take a 12-point lead into the fourth, before blowing the game open, outscoring Valpo 25-7 in the final frame en route to a 78-48 win.
While the Titans weren’t overly efficient from the field by any means, going 28-of-68 (41%), their defense held Valpo to just 18-of-63 (29%) shooting, while also winning the turnover battle 24-13 and the battle in paint points 34-20. For the Beacons, senior Fiona Connolly paced them with 19 points and nine boards. For Detroit Mercy, they were led by Jasmine Edwards, who had 19 points and seven rebounds. The 6’0 senior went 8-for-11 from the field. Junior Makayla Jackson chipped in 16 and senior Aaliyah McQueen had an outstanding 15-point 16-rebound double-double, despite not having her best shooting day (6-of-17). I would also be remiss to not mention the 10 points that sophomore Maya Anderson had to lead the Titans off the bench, an outing that saw her go 4-of-7 from the field.
They then took the same trip down I-75 that the men’s team did the day prior to take on the Toledo Rockets on Sunday, albeit without key piece Makayla Jackson. While the outcome was not quite as desirable (a 66-52 loss), there was a lot of good to take away from the contest. The Titans got down 17-4 a little over halfway through the first quarter, and although they very easily could have folded to a very solid Toledo squad, that’s not at all what happened.
The Titans went on a 13-5 run that carried early into the second quarter to cut the deficit to 22-17. While it never got closer than five beyond that point, Detroit Mercy continued to battle, resulting in the game still being a seven-point game more than midway through the third quarter (45-38). Although the Rockets slowly inched away to win by 14, it was a respectable performance from the short-handed Titans, especially considering that they were only outscored by one point (49-48) in the final three and a third quarters after going down 17-4 in the first. Detroit Mercy used 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting and six rebounds from Jasmine Edwards to hang in the game, and it’s more than worth mentioning that Aaliyah McQueen was also held to just 18 minutes in this one due to foul trouble before ultimately fouling out. The Rockets had four scorers in double figures, and they were led by sophomore Faith Fedd-Robinson, who had 17.
Head coach Keifer Haffey had this to say about their opening road test:
“I wish that we were [fully] healthy, had a better start and I wish that we played to our full potential for the whole game, but it was a great first road test for us and gave me confidence in what our bench can bring.”
The first-year Titans head coach was also optimistic when talking about the opening week of play in general as well, while certainly seeing ways his team can continue to get better:
“I’ve liked that we’ve committed to the defensive end of the floor. You know, I think early in the year we were questioning whether we had enough depth on that side of the ball to be as good as we wanted. We’re guarding people right now [though], holding the first [couple opponents] to an average of just under 60 points, so that’s pretty good and we need to be able to stay at that mark.”
“I’ve also learned that we can play tenaciously, play really up-tempo and aggressive and can be really good at that and that we have players on the bench that are ready to step up and be a part of that too.”
“We must have a commitment to boxing out and rebounding and ball pressure. We just need to consistently commit to the type of team that we want to be”
Next Up
When we look at the next contests for Detroit Mercy, they’ll face their second MAC opponent tonight, as the face-off against Central Michigan will tip off in Calihan Hall at 7pm. The Chippewas and 2025 MAC Freshman of the Year Madi Morson (18.3 PPG) will come into Detroit looking to improve on their 2-1 record. This will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2004, when the Titans won 62-47 in December of that year. The Titans then hit the road once again, visiting the Wisconsin Badgers on Sunday in a game that will start at 3pm. We’ll see if Detroit Mercy can continue their solid play in what should be a couple of good tests this week.
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