Women's Hoops Moves Up To 9th In D2SIDA Regional Poll

2/11/2019 12:03:00 PM | By: By Tom McDermott, Sports Information Consultant

D2SIDA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL EAST REGION MEDIA POLL WEEK 12 - FEBRUARY 411 2019
Rank	School	Pts.	Record	Previous
1.	U. Sciences (5)	58	22-1	2
2.	Jefferson (1)	54	21-1	1
3.	Bentley	49	21-2	3
4.	St. Thomas Aquinas	41	21-3	5
5.	Le Moyne	36	18-4	4
6.	St. Anselm	27	16-5	7
7.	Stonehill	22	15-7	6
8.	NYIT	17	18-5	8
9.	DAEMEN	13	13-8	T-10
10.	Merrimack	10	16-7	NR
( ) - denotes first-place votes

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's basketball team has moved up one spot in the latest version of the NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region media poll, which was released today. Daemen, which made its first-ever appearance in the poll last week, is ranked ninth this week. The East Region of NCAA Division II is comprised of teams from the East Coast Conference, the Northeast-10 Conference and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, and the East Region media poll is voted on by sports information professionals from around the region.

Under the guidance of third-year head coach Jenepher Banker, the Wildcats currently sit at 13-8 overall and are in second place in the East Coast Conference standings with a 10-2 league record. Daemen received 13 points in the voting this week. The poll has a new No. 1 after The University of the Sciences defeated previously unbeaten Jefferson University in a battle of the top two teams last week. Sciences (22-1) takes over the top spot from its CACC rival Jefferson (22-1), which is now ranked second. The remainder of the top five includes Bentley University (21-2) of the NE-10, St. Thomas Aquinas College (21-3) of the ECC and Le Moyne College (18-4) of the NE-10 .

Daemen's current nine game winning streak is the team's longest since the start of the 2010-11 season. The streak ranks as the second longest among NCAA Division II East Region teams. Sciences, which has won 11 in a row, is the only team in the region with a longer winning streak. Most recently, Daemen extended the streak by defeating Molloy College (70-60) and Queens College (64-50) this weekend. It marked the sixth and 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.

Redshirt sophomore Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.), freshman Katie Titus (Penfield, N.Y.) and senior Erin Egan (Williamsville, N.Y.) have been the driving force behind Daemen's recent success. Filbert scored a career-high 25 points during the win over Molloy this past Friday, and followed up with 15 points against Queens. She has scored in double figures 17 times this season and leads the team in points per game (14.4), three-point field goals made (39), assists (63) and steals (34). Titus also scored a career-high 25 points against Molloy and totaled eight points, nine rebounds and a career-high four blocks against Queens. It marked the first time Titus has failed to score in double figures during the nine game winning streak. She has averaged 20.4 points and 10.0 rebounds during the streak. The rookie is averaging 11.7 points overall and leads the team in rebounds per game (7.1) and blocks (24). Her efforts have not gone unnoticed, as she has been named Player of the Week, Defensive Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week by the ECC in recent weeks. Egan scored in double figures for the sixth time in the past eight games on Sunday against Queens, as she finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. She is averaging 10.2 points and 5.4 rebounds and ranks second on the team in blocked shots (21).

Additional production has come from sophomore Caroline White (Fairport, N.Y.) and juniors Jordan Heinold (Hamburg, N.Y.) and Ranaveya Richards (Albany, N.Y.). White grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds in the win at Molloy Friday and has averaged 8.3 points off the bench during the winning steak. Heinold totaled 11 points and six rebounds in a recent win over rival Roberts Wesleyan College and ranks third on the team in three-pointers made (20). The Wildcats are undefeated since Richards entered the starting lineup eight games ago. The point guard totaled 13 points, six rebounds and six assists in a recent win over the University of Bridgeport and is averaging 6.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists during the winning streak.

The Wildcats are idle until this 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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