FLUSHING, N.Y. – Sophomore Caroline White (Fairport, N.Y.) drilled three three-pointers and totaled 18 points in 31 minutes off the bench to lead Daemen College to a 64-50 victory over Queens College here today in East Coast Conference women's basketball action. The Wildcats, who completed the season sweep of Queens for the first time since doing the ECC in 2013-14, extended their winning streak to nine straight games and improved to 13-8 overall and 10-2 in the ECC. Queens dropped to 4-17 overall and 3-10 in the league.
Daemen's recent success earned it a spot in the Division II Sports Information Directors Association (D2SIDA) East Region poll for the first time ever this week. The team's nine-game winning streak ranks as the second longest among NCAA Division II East Region teams. Nationally-ranked University of the Sciences, which has won 11 in a row, is the only team in the region with a longer winning streak.
The Wildcats entered today's game in second place in the ECC standings. The 10 league wins are the most for the Wildcats since joining the league, and the nine straight wins ranks as the longest winning streak for Daemen since it joined the ECC. The last time the Wildcats won nine straight games was midway through the 2010-11 season.
Today marked the seventh time during the winning streak that Daemen has won by 10 points or more. The Wildcats are averaging 68.5 points during the streak, while surrendering an average of 50.9 points. The Wildcats are now 11-1 on the year when they score 60 or more points.
White, who grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds in a 70-60 win at Molloy College Friday night, connected on 6-of-13 shots today and has averaged 8.3 points off the bench during the winning steak. Redshirt sophomore Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.) scored 12 points in the second half and finished with 15 points and six rebounds. Senior Erin Egan (Williamsville, N.Y.) chipped in 12 points and eight boards.
Freshman Katie Titus (Penfield, N.Y.) totaled eight points, nine rebounds and a career-high four blocks. It marked the first time Titus has failed to score in double figures during the nine game winning streak. She scored a career-high 25 points in the win over Molloy Friday and has averaged 20.4 points and 10.0 rebounds during the streak. Fellow rookie Mickayla Ivy (Grand Rapids, Mich.) played 23 minutes off the bench and totaled five points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Not to be overlooked was junior guard Ranaveya Richards (Albany, N.Y.), who played outstanding defense on standout guard Beth Bonin (Cicero, N.Y.). Bonin, who entered the game eight points shy of 1,000 for her carer, connected on just 5-of-11 shots and finished with a hard-earned 11 points (five of which came in the final 2:27).
Bonin, who also grabbed nine rebounds for the Knights, shared team-high scoring honors for the Knights with freshman Maia Fawcett (Astoria, N.Y.) who scored 11 points in just 16 minutes off the bench.
Queens took a 12-7 lead following a layup by Bonin six minutes into the game, and neither team scored again until a layup by White with 2:23 left in the frame sparked a quarter-ending 8-1 run by Daemen. A buzzer-beating three-pointer by Titus capped the spurt and gave the Wildcats a 15-13 lead.
Daemen outscored the Knights 10-2 over the first five minutes of the second quarter and opened up a 25-15 lead following a layup by White with 5:10 left before intermission. The lead was still 10 points , 29-19, with just over a minutes left in the half, but Queens got a layup from Fawcett and two free throws from fellow rookie Lakeisha Officer (Brooklyn,N.Y.) with six seconds left to cut the Daemen lead to 29-23 at the break.
Six fouls were whistled in the first 1:14 of the third quarter (four on Daemen), including the third personal foul on Titus. Queens made it a one possession game, 30-28, shortly after Titus exited for the bench, but the Knights were unable to take advantage of her absence. White hit a three-pointer at the 7:50 mark to make it a 33-28 lead, and the Wildcats later regained a double-digit lead, 40-30, after Filbert drilled a triple with 4:49 left in the third. The teams traded points for the next two and a half minutes, before the visitors closed the half with a 6-2 spurt. Two free throws by White with just one second to play in the frame capped the run and gave Daemen a 49-36 lead.
The Daemen lead was 11 points, 52-41, when White's third three-pointer of the game sparked the Wildcats on a decisive 10-0 run. A put back by Filbert with four minutes to play capped the run and gave Daemen a 62-41 lead.
Daemen shot 42-percent (11-26) from the field in the second half and finished 23-for-61 (38%) form the field overall. The Wildcats made 7-of-21 three-pointers and canned 11-of-13 from the charity stripe. Queens shot just 33-percent (20-for-61) from the field overall and made just 1-of-12 from downtown. The Knights made 9-of-11 free throws. Daemen finished with a 42-41 edge in total rebounds, and the Wildcats also finished with an advantage in points off turnovers (13-8) and second chance points (16-7).
The Wildcats are idle until next weekend when they host Long Island University Post (Feb. 15) and New York Institute of Technology (Feb.17) in key ECC games. LIU Post was the preseason favorite to win the league and currently sits in fourth place in the ECC standings (15-8, 8-5 ECC). NYIT (18-5, 10-3 ECC) is ranked eighth in the region and is currently just a half game behind Daemen in the league standings. Daemen's two league losses came to LIU Post (70-54) and NYIT (84-46) earlier this year on Long Island.
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