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Bernard Scott is generally one of the more talkative coaches in college basketball.
But when the Titans’ leader entered the press room following Tuesday’s Horizon League Women’s Championship game, he could muster just three words: “Tough one today.”
The Detroit Mercy Titans were unable to slay the giant, falling short to Green Bay 64-52 in front of a boisterous home crowd at Joe Louis Arena. The champion Phoenix -- winners of 19 consecutive regular season championships -- were simply too deep and experienced for the fresh-faced Titans.
“I think the moment got to us a little bit,” said Scott. “The disadvantage we were dealing with today is that this was our first time here. Green Bay has been fortunate enough to be in this game just about every year.”
As to be expected, his resilient crew did not go quietly.
Down by 17 late in the third quarter, Rosanna Reynolds led her troops all the way to within five points. But the Phoenix calmly responded with a shot clock-beating layup, then a backbreaking 3-pointer the next trip down. The advantage was back to double digits and the Titans would threaten no more.
Relentless Rosie
Reynolds, the All-Horizon first-teamer (and All-Tournament team, too), put on an inspiring performance. With the majority of the Titans’ roster struggling to connect from the field, she assumed basically all of the team’s offensive responsibilities: 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Every time you looked up, #11 in red was darting through the lane, taking on multiple defenders, and still finding a way to convert.
Tournament MVP Jessica Lindstrom (Green Bay) said of Reynolds, “She was relentless. We knew that she needed a lot of our attention, and she still got 25.”
Bernard Scott
Unfortunately, the Detroit Mercy bench that had been an X-factor throughout the tournament was not to be heard from in the finals. Sharpshooter Anja Marinkovic had tallied 11 points in each of the prior two victories; she managed just one point on Tuesday. All told, Bernard Scott’s reserve unit would fail to convert on a single one of their eight shot attempts for the game.
Haleigh Ristovski, the other senior in the Titans’ lineup, said through short sobs that she was “proud to be part of this family.” Ristovski was not sharp offensively during the tournament, but like Reynolds, left no debate about her heart, determination, or any other superlative you could think of.
Roaring Crowd at the Joe
Despite the loss, one takeaway from the afternoon was the electric atmosphere in Joe Louis for the women’s championship game.
“Normally we are used to the fans cheering for us, but Detroit had a really good contingent here," said Green Bay coach Kevin Borseth. "It got to be noisy, really loud. It felt like a pretty jam-packed arena. It’s a great place to play.”
In just his second year, it appears Scott has the Titans on the path to perennial championship contention. On this day, they were just a couple of stops or a couple bench contributions away from dashing away with the Horizon League title.
Season to Remember
With Reynolds and Ristovski still in their sweat-soaked uniforms - both fighting back tears - Scott summed up their courageous efforts, along with the rest of his Horizon runner-up Titans: “They had a great season. They’ve given me everything that they could give.”
In this championship game, with an NCAA Tournament berth on the line, the Titans' everything was just not quite enough.
The loss will sting for Detroit Mercy; when you’re trying to win a championship for the first time in two decades, that disappointment will naturally be felt. But Bernard Scott has changed the women’s hoops culture at McNichols and Livernois in just two short years.
They were not able to fully scale the mountain today, but reaching the base of Everest is pretty darn good, too.
When the tears dry and their vision restores, these Titans will realize the magnitude of this tournament run; and the overwhelming pride they brought to the city of Detroit.
Deadline Detroit columnist Joey Yashinsky also is a freelance writer for the Horizon League
