GAME INFORMATION
Daemen Wildcats (2-3, 0-0 ECC) vs. Gannon Golden Knights (4-2, 0-0 PSAC)
Wednesday, Nov. 28 |  5:30 p.m.
Erie, Pa. |  Hammermill Center

GAME LINKS
Live Stats
Watch
Listen
Game Day

JUMP BALL
The Daemen College women's basketball team travels to Gannon University for a non-league game. The schools met for the first time in 10 years last year at Daemen and the Golden Knights held on for a 68-64 victory. The teams met 12 times between 1987 and 2007. Daemen will be making its first trip to Gannon's Hammerhill Center since Dec. 3, 2007. Gannon enters the game ranked ninth in the latest D2SIDA Atlantic Region poll. It will mark the third-straight game that Daemen has gone up against a regionally-ranked team.

ROAD WARRIORS
Nine of Daemen's first 10 games will be road or neutral site games. Wednesday's game will be the third of seven-straight road or neutral site games for the Wildcats. Daemen's next home game is set for Jan. 3 against Saint Anselm College.

BANKER'S BACK
Jenepher Banker enters her third season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen. Over the past two seasons she has led the Wildcats to a 23-32 overall record and a 17-19 mark in the ECC. Last year she led Daemen to its first-ever appearance in the ECC Championship Tournament. Banker arrived at Daemen with nearly 30 years of coaching experience at various levels, ranging from Division I to high school. Her first collegiate experience came as an assistant coach at Iowa State University (1986-88) and later as an assistant at Canisius College (1993-95)…between assistant coaching stops, Banker served as the head coach at Penn State-Behrend where she led the NCAA Division III program to a 67-61 overall record. Her 1991-92 team went 23-4, winning the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Region championship. That team garnered Penn State-Behrend's first-ever national ranking in any sport. She was inducted into Penn State-Behrend's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994. Banker ultimately settled at the high school level, coaching the varsity team at Grand Island High School from 1998-2013, building the Lady Vikings into a regional contender with seven Section VI championships, four appearances in the Far West Regional, and one appearance at the New York State final four.

DAEMEN QUICK FACTS
Daemen returns three starters and eight players from last year's team that posted an 12-17 overall record and a 9-9 mark in the East Coast Conference. The Wildcats earned a bid to the ECC Championship Tournament for the first time since joining the league in 2013-14. Daemen suffered a 76-64 loss to Roberts Wesleyan in the ECC Tournament quarterfinals. The Wildcats are ranked eighth in the ECC preseason poll. The Wildcats opened the 2018-19 season by splitting two games during the Redhawks Classic hosted by Roberts Wesleyan College. Daemen suffered a 69-66 loss to St. Rose in the opening round, before rebounding with a 73-48 win over Assumption in round two. The Wildcats posted a 74-67 win over Mercyhurst at Lumsden Gym on Nov. 15, and are coming off back-to-back losses to regionally-ranked Eckerd (57-49) and nationally-ranked Florida Southern (96-55) during the Eckerd Thanksgiving Classic this past weekend.

HISTORIC WIN
The Wildcats trailed Mercyhurst by 10 points (59-49) late in the third quarter, before outscoring the Lakers 25-8 the rest of the way to secure their first win over a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) team since the 2004-05 season when the Wildcats posted a 90-82 win over Gannon.

A NEW ERA
A familiar face will be missing from the Daemen lineup following the graduation of Sarah Saba. A four-year starter for the Wildcats, she played in all 110 games over her career and totaled 1,774 points (16.1 ppg), 770 rebounds (7.0 rpg), 157 blocks and 157 steals. She scored in double figures in 96 of her 110 career games and ranks fifth in career points among Daemen's all-time leaders. She also ranks seventh in career rebounds and sixth in career blocks. She became the first-ever women's basketball player from Daemen to earn first-team All-ECC honors as a sophomore, and repeated the honor as a junior and senior. She averaged an ECC-best 17.7 points last year and became the first women's basketball player from Daemen to lead the league in scoring average.

SENSATIONAL SOPHOMORES
Sophomores Tiara Filbert and Caroline White are both coming off solid rookie seasons. Filbert, who sat out the 2016-17 season due to injury, played in all 29 games last year and started 20 of the final 21 games. She ranked second on the team in total points (252), scoring average (8.7) and defensive rebounds (115). A one-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection, she scored in double figures 12 times, including 10 of her final 19 games. Filbert scored a career-high 21 points in the win over Mercyhurst and is averaging a team-high 14.0 points. She also leads the team in field goal percentage (.532), three-pointers made (11) and three-point field goal percentage (.550) and assists (13). White played in all 29 games and started 22 games last year. She ranked third on the team in total points (249), scoring average (8.6), minutes per game (29.9), total rebounds (149) and rebounds per game (5.1). A three-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection, she ranked second in three-pointers made (36) and scored in double figures 11 times. White scored 15 points in the win over Assumption during the Redhawks Classic. Fellow sophomore Autumn Buchsenschutz is playing a much larger role this year after seeing limited playing time as a freshman. She has started all five games this season and is averaging 23.2 minutes a game. She handed out five assists in the season-opening loss to St. Rose and scored seven points in the win over Assumption.

SUPER SUB TO SENIOR STARTER
Senior Erin Egan played in 27 of 29 games last year and averaged 17 minutes a game off the bench. She averaged 5.4 points and 4.6 rebounds and ranked second on the team in blocks (34) and steals (26). She has started the first five games of 2018-19 and ranks second on the team in scoring average (10.8), steals (10) and blocks (4) and leads the team in rebounds per game (5.8). She registered 14 points and nine rebounds in the season-opening loss to St. Rose.

BACK FROM INJURY
Junior Jordan Heinold and senior Erin Sinnott both had their 2017-18 seasons cut short by injury. Heinold played in the first 13 games (7 starts) before missing the remainder of the regular-season due to injury. She averaged 7.4 points and 4.1 rebounds and ranked fourth on the team in three-pointers made (27) despite missing 15 games. She has canned 71 three-pointers and has averaged 8.4 points over her career. She scored 14 points in the season-opening loss to St. Rose. Sinnott started the first eight games last year before missing the remainder of the season. A transfer from Division I Evansville, she was averaging 7.0 points and 4.4 rebounds prior to the injury.

IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Junior Sarah Young made an immediate impact with the team after transferring from Division I St. Bonaventure last year. She started 28 games, averaged 6.3 points and led the team in offensive rebounds (80) and field goal percentage (.500). She also ranked second in rebounds per game (5.9) and third in blocked shots (22).

TALENTED NEWCOMERS
The 2018-19 roster features six newcomers—one junior college transfer and five freshmen. Junior guard Ranaveya Richards joins the Wildcats after playing the last two seasons at Finger Lakes CC. She earned NJCAA Division III all-America honors last year after averaging 21.1 points, 8.8 rebounds and 7.2 assists. Freshman guard Sydney Barney was a four-year starter at Beaver Area (Pa.) High School and earned all-district honors as a senior. Freshman forward Mickayla Ivy led East Grand Rapids (Mich.) to a 20-4 record and its first Class A District championship since 2009 last year. Freshman guard Vivian Ladd is a product of Johnson City (N.Y.) High School and collected first-team all-region and fifth-team all-state (Class A) as a junior. Freshman guard Katie Price led Fredonia (N.Y.) High School to back-to-back Section VI Class B titles as a junior and senior. Freshman forward Katie Titus enjoyed an outstanding career at regional power Our Lady of Mercy High School in Rochester, N.Y. A two-time first-team All-Greater Rochester selection, she led the Monarchs to 63 wins, two Section V titles and two NYSPHSAA Class AA "Final Four" appearances.

TITUS COLLECTS CONFERENCE HONOR
Freshman forward Katie Titus was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 19 after totaling 12 defensive rebounds, three blocks and two steals in the win over Mercyhurst. For the game, she totaled 14 points, 15 rebounds, three blocks and two steals in 22 minutes off the bench. It marked her first career double-double. Titus scored a career-high 19 points in the loss to Eckerd this past weekend and is averaging 7.8 and 5.6 rebounds per game.

GANNON SCOUTING REPORT
Gannon is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). The Golden Knights return seven players and three starters from last year's team that finished 16-13 overall (13-9 PSAC) and advanced to the PSAC Tournament. Gannon was voted fifth in the 2018-19 PSAC West Division preseason poll. Head coach Jim Brunelli is entering his sixth season at Gannon. He led the Golden Knights to 49 wins and back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in his first two seasons as head coach. The Golden Knights have won four of their first six games and are ranked ninth in the latest D2SIDA Atlantic Region poll. GU traveled to Fairbanks, Alaska last week for the Mount McKinley Bank North Star Crossover. The Golden Knights suffered a 63-45 loss to regionally-ranked Tampa, before rebounding with a 74-65 win over tournament host Alaska-Fairbanks. Senior C/F and Nicole LaCava and junior G/F Chelsea Rourke top the list of returning players. LaCava averaged 11.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last year, while Rourke averaged 11.0 points with 40 three-pointers. She also led the team in rebounds per game (6.4), steals (33) and blocks (31). LaCava totaled 11 points and 11 rebounds in a 69-58 win over Johnson C. Smith and is averaging 10.5 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds. Rourke scored 20 points in an 80-63 win over Fairmont State and is averaging a team-high 12.8 points and 5.7 rebounds. Sophomore Sydney Mitchell has started all six games and scored 14 points in a season-opening (91-89 OT) win over Elizabeth City State.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Daemen vs. Gannon: 4-9
Streak: Lost 3
Last Meeting: Gannon 68, Daemen 64 | Nov. 28, 2017 | Amherst, N.Y.
More Details

ON THE HORIZON
The Wildcats are idle until next Wednesday (Dec. 5) when they open East Coast Conference play at rival Roberts Wesleyan College.