ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's basketball team outscored Concordia College 26-4 during the third quarter en route to a 70-47 victory here today in second round action of the Redhawks Alumni Classic.

It marked the first-ever meeting between the NCAA Division II programs. The tournament is being hosted by Roberts Wesleyan College and features teams from the East Coast Conference and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference.

Daemen, which is ranked ninth in the NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region preseason media poll, improved to 3-1 following its third-straight win. It marks the first time since the Wildcats began play as a NCAA Division II member that they have won three of their first four games. Concordia, which suffered a 64-48 loss to Roberts Wesleyan in the opening round, dropped to 0-4.

HIGHLIGHTS.

• Daemen held a 36-30 lead at the half, and the Wildcats outscored the Clippers 17-0 over the first five and a half minutes of the third quarter to open up a 53-30 lead. Sophomore Katie Titus (Penfield, N.Y.) scored six points during the run, while redshirt junior Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.) added five.
• The Wildcats took a 62-34 lead into the final quarter and Concordia came no closer than 21 points over the final 10 minutes.
• Daemen struggled to score early in the game, which allowed Concordia to build a 12-5 lead. Daemen answered with a 12-2 run of its own and took a 17-14 lead following a layup by graduate student Ashli Jeune (Westhampton, N.Y.) with 2:21 left in the first quarter.
• The teams entered the second quarter knotted at 18-18, and the game was tied at 28-28 when the Wildcats outscored the Clippers 8-2 over the final 2:54 of the half to take a 36-30 lead into halftime.
• Filbert paced a balanced Daemen attack, as she connected on 6-of-10 shots and totaled 16 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals.
• Jeune finished with 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. She has now totaled a team-high 12 steals on the year. Titus totaled 10 points, seven boards and a career-high five blocks. Junior Caroline White (Fairport, N.Y.) added eight points, eight rebounds and five assists.
• Freshman Jaayden Lafontant paced the Clippers with 12 points and seven rebounds, while junior Shanice Graves added 10 points and six boards.
• Daemen shot 67-percent (10-for-15) from the field during the decisive third quarter and finished 28-of-63 (44%) from the field overall. The Wildcats connected on 7-of-23 from downtown. The Clippers shot just 24-percent (8-for-33) from the field in the second half and finished 21-for-62 (34%) from the field overall. Concordia made just 3-of-12 from downtown.
• Daemen finished with an advantage in points off turnovers (24-8), second chance points (6-2) and points in the paint (32-26).

HEAD COACH JENEPHER BANKER POST-GAME COMMENTS
"Our team is a great group to work with and we enjoyed a good weekend. We have a very balanced attack with different players stepping up and making plays at both ends of the court. We will continue to work on being better connected on offense and defense." 

GAME NOTES

• Daemen returns three starters and seven players from last year. The Wildcats are coming off their most successful season since transitioning to NCAA Division II. Daemen posted an 11-game winning streak, won 14 of its final 15 regular-season games, posted a 15-3 league record and finished 18-10 overall.
• Daemen recorded 12 steals today and has recorded 10 or more steals in each of the first four games.
  

UP NEXT
The Wildcats host Edinboro University in their 2019-20 home opener Wednesday (Nov. 20) at Lumsden Gymnasium.