AMHERST, N.Y. - Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.) of Daemen College has been named the East Coast Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for games played Nov. 25 through Dec. 1. The official announcement of weekly awards was made in the ECC's weekly sport report which was released this afternoon.
Filbert, a 5-foot-9 redshirt junior guard, led the Wildcats to a strong showing at the Cesar Odio Thanksgiving Classic this past weekend in South Florida. Daemen suffered a 77-74 loss to Nova Southeastern University and defeated tournament host Barry University, 78-69. Both schools are members of the Sunshine State Conference. NSU has been one of the more successful NCAA Division II programs over the past seven years—having won 154 games (22 per year) with four NCAA Tournament Regional crowns and six NCAA Tournament appearances. The Sharks posted a 21-12 overall record last year and claimed the NCAA Tournament South Region championship.
The loss to NSU overshadowed an outstanding individual effort by Filbert, who connected on 13-of-20 shots overall (4-of-8 from three-point land) and scored a career-high 38 points. She became the first Daemen player to score over 35 points in a game since Raeann Stilwell netted 36 on Jan. 6, 2014. The 38 points were just seven shy of tying the school-record for points in a game (45) set by Sarah Soroka on Dec. 22, 2010. Her 38 points also ranks as the fifth most by a NCAA Division II player this season. Filbert played 39 of a possible 40 minutes and also totaled four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Her previous career-high of 25 points was set last February during a win at Molloy College.
The following day against Barry she played 38 minutes, connected on 7-of-12 shots and totaled 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Over the two games she shot 63-percent (20-for-32) from the field and totaled 55 points.
Filbert has started all eight contests this season, and is producing 14.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game. She ranks second on the team in points per game, assists per game and steals per game and third in rebounds per game and three-pointers made (10). She becomes the first Daemen player to earn ECC Player of the Week this season, and the first Daemen player to collect the honor since Katie Titus on Jan. 28, 2019.
After sitting out her freshman season due to a pre-season injury, Filbert has been a constant in the Daemen starting lineup over the past three years. She has started every game since the start of last season and has started 56 of a possible 65 games over her three-year career. She has appeared in a 65 games over the past three years and has totaled 706 points, 298 rebounds, 152 assists and 75 steals. The Wildcats are 36-29 over her career—including a 24-14 clip since the start of the 2018-19 season. Last year she earned second-team All-ECC honors after leading Daemen to an 18-10 overall record, a second-place showing in the ECC regular-season standings (15-3) and a second-straight appearance in the ECC Tournament.
Daemen (6-2, 0-0 ECC), which is ranked seventh in last week's Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region media poll, is idle until Saturday (Dec. 7) when it hosts longtime rival Roberts Wesleyan College. It will mark the ECC opener for both teams. The Wildcats will bring a 10-game home winning streak into the matchup.
Daemen College features the only NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.
