AMHERST, N.Y. – The women's and men's basketball teams have been named the Daemen College Student-Athletes of the Month presented by Western New York Knee and Orthopedic Surgery PC for February, 2019. It marks just the second and third time that an entire team has collected the honor. The women's volleyball team was also chosen in November of 2016 after it became the first program from Daemen to earn a bid to a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship event.
It was a historic month for both of Daemen's basketball programs, as they posted a combined 12-2 record during the month and garnered recognition at the regional and national level.
The Daemen women entered February riding a six-game winning streak and extended that streak to 11 straight games before suffering a loss at regionally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas College on Feb. 22. The Wildcats rebounded less than 48 hours later with a 70-60 win at the University of the District of Columbia. The win against UDC secured Daemen the No. 2 seed—and an opening-round bye—in the upcoming East Coast Conference (ECC) Championship Tournament. The ECC Championship features the top six teams in the final league standings. The top two seeds receive a first-round bye. First round games are slated for campus sites on Wednesday, March 6. The semifinals (Saturday, March 9) and finals (Sunday, March 10) will be played at Hubbell Gymnasium on the campus of the University of Bridgeport. Daemen made its first-ever appearance in the six-team tournament last year.
Daemen opened the month with an impressive 76-54 win over longtime rival Roberts Wesleyan College at DC's Lumsden Gymnasium on Feb. 2. Daemen, which posted a 72-70 win over the Redhawks earlier this year in Rochester, swept the regular-season series from RWC for the first time since the Wildcats joined the ECC in 2013-14. The 22-point win also ranked as Daemen's largest win over RWC since a 75-58 win on Dec. 7, 2010. Additional highlights of the month included a weekend sweep of Long Island University Post and New York Institute of Technology at Lumsden Gym. LIU Post is the defending ECC regular season champion and this year's preseason favorite to win the title again. NYIT is the defending ECC tournament champion, and they entered the game ranked eighth in the region. The wins came two months after LIU Post and NYIT posted wins over Daemen on Long Island.
The second half surge earned the women's basketball team its first regional ranking since Daemen transitioned from NAIA to NCAA. Daemen entered the Division II Sports Information Directors Association (D2SIDA) East Region poll for the first time ever on Feb. 4 at No. 10, and was ranked ninth in the final D2SIDA regional poll of the year on Feb. 11. A week later Daemen would be included in the NCAA Division II East Region poll for the first time ever—coming it at No. 10. The Wildcats were once again ranked 10th by the NCAA regional committee on Feb. 27.
Daemen (16-9, 13-3 ECC) closes out the regular season this weekend when it hosts Mercy College (Mar. 1) and the University of Bridgeport (Mar. 3) in the ECC games. Daemen's 16 wins are the most in one season since the Wildcats posted a 26-7 record in 2012-13, and the 13 league wins are the most since Daemen joined the ECC in 2013-14.
The Daemen men entered February riding a five-game winning streak and extended that streak to 10 straight games before suffering a loss at regionally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas College on Feb. 22. The Wildcats rebounded less than 48 hours later with an 87-81 win at the University of the District of Columbia.
Daemen opened the month with an impressive 83-64 win over longtime rival Roberts Wesleyan College at DC's Lumsden Gymnasium on Feb. 2. The victory was Daemen's 17th straight over RWC, its longest active streak against any single opponent. Additional highlights of the month included roads wins over Molloy College and Queens College the weekend of Feb. 8-10. The 89-75 win over Molloy came a month after the Lions had rallied for a 72-71 upset of Daemen at Lumsden Gym—Daemen's only loss at home this season. The win over Queens earned the Wildcats a spot in ECC Championship Tournament for the fourth straight year.
Daemen's success this season has earned it national recognition by the D2SIDA and the National Association Basketball Coaches (NABC) for the first time since the Wildcats transitioned to NCAA. The Wildcats received their first national ranking by the D2SIDA back on Jan.8 and have appeared in the last eight D2SIDA national polls—climbing as high as No. 10 in the Feb. 19 poll. Daemen appeared in the NABC Division II national poll for the first time ever on Jan. 29 and has remained in the poll since then—climbing as high as No. 13 on Feb. 19.
Daemen (22-4, 14-2 ECC) closes out the regular season this weekend when it hosts Mercy College (Mar. 1) and the University of Bridgeport (Mar. 3) in the ECC games. Daemen has reached the 20-win plateau for the fifth time over the past seven seasons and the 11th time in program history.
Additional student-athletes considered for Athlete of the Month honors included women's basketball player
Katie Titus, women's track and field athlete Taylor Haude, women's bowling team member Adrianna Pencek, men's basketball player
Andrew Sischo, men's volleyball player Kyle Kon and men's track and field athlete Rodney Corbin.
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