AMHERST, N.Y. - Jordan Heinold and Katie Titus of the Daemen College women's basketball team have been honored by the East Coast Conference for their play in key wins over Molloy College and New York Tech this past weekend. Heinold was selected the Women's Basketball Player of the Week, while Titus was named the Women's Basketball Defensive Player of the Week for games played January 20-26. The official announcement of weekly awards was made in the ECC's weekly sport report which was released this afternoon.
It marks the second-straight week Heinold has garnered a weekly award from the conference, as last week she was selected the ECC Defensive Player of the Week.
The wins allowed Daemen to take over sole possession of second place in the ECC standings. The wins also extended Daemen's overall winning streak to seven games and extended its home winning streak to 15-straight games. The seven-game winning streak ranks as the second longest current winning streak among Division II East Region teams, while the 15-game home winning streak ranks second only to Bentley University (16) among regional teams.
Heinold, a 6-foot senior guard/forward, played in 77 of a possible 80 minutes during the two wins. She played 39 minutes and totaled a game-high 23 points in a 68-51 win over Molloy. She scored 18 of her 23 points after halftime, as Daemen used a 24-13 third quarter to pull away from the Lions, who entered the game tied with Daemen for second place in the league. She went 6-of-9 from downtown and also recorded seven rebounds, three assists, five steals and a block. Heinold and her teammates got off to a slow start Sunday against New York Tech and found themselves down 12 points (30-18) four minutes into the third quarter. Heinold's three-pointer with 6:18 left in the quarter ignited a game-changing 17-4 run by the Wildcats that gave the hosts a 35-34 lead. She scored nine points during the run and finished the game with 14 points and seven rebounds in 38 minutes of action.
She has started all 18 contests this season, and is producing a career-best 11.1 points per game. She also ranks third on the team in minutes per game (31.6) and rebounds per game (4.9) and leads the team in three-point field goals made (47) and steals (32). She has scored in double figures in 10 games and netted a career-high 25 points in an 83-51 win at Wilmington University on Nov. 23. She has made at least one three-pointer in 10-straight games and has shot 45-percent (30-67) from behind the arc during those 10 games. Among the ECC leaders she ranks second in three-point field goals made (47), third in three-point field goal percentage (.409) and 11th in steals.
The lone senior on this years's team, Heinold has played in 85 of a possible 101 games over her four-year career. She has totaled 703 points, 367 rebounds and 89 steals over her career and currently ranks fifth in career three-pointers made (155) among Daemen's all-time leaders. She has led the Wildcats to a 56-45 record over her career, including a 33-13 mark since the start of her junior year.
Titus, a 6-foot sophomore forward, headed up a defense that limited Molloy and New York Tech to a combined 97 points and a combined shooting percentage of .310 (37-119) during two key conference wins.
Titus saw limited playing time in the win over Molloy Friday night due to foul trouble, but she still managed to record a team-high eight rebounds (5 defensive) and two blocks. Titus registered her fourth double-double in the past five games and finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds (6 defensive), four steals and two blocks against New York Tech.
Titus has started all 18 contests this season and leads the team in field goal percentage (.466), rebounds per game (7.7) and total blocks (27). She also ranks third on the team in points per game (13.3) and fourth total steals (28). Among the ECC leaders she ranks ninth in points per game, eighth in field goal percentage, seventh in rebounds per game, third in defensive rebounds per game (6.1), third in blocks and 15th in steals.
Titus has scored in double figures 14 times this year and has registered four double-doubles. She scored a career-high 27 points in a 78-57 win at The College of Saint Rose on Dec. 22 and equaled her career-high for points (27) and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 64-35 win at the University of the District of Columbia on Jan. 19.
It marks the second time this season Titus has been selected ECC Defensive Player of the Week. She is one of three Daemen players to earn Defensive Player of the Week honors this year, joining Heinold and junior Caroline White (Fairport, N.Y.). Titus, White and Heinold are the only Daemen players to earn the honor since the ECC first began naming a Defensive Player of the Week last year. Titus was a two-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week recipient as a rookie last year.
Titus has played in all 46 games since the start of the 2018-19 season and has been in the starting lineup 38 times. She has shot 45-percent (228-508) from the field overall and 35-percent (70-199) from three-point land and has totaled 579 points (12.6 per game) and 341 rebounds (7.4 per game). She has led the Wildcats to a 33-13 record over her two-year career.
With today's announcement, a Daemen player has now collected a weekly honor from the ECC in six of a possible 11 weeks. In addition to Titus, White and Heinold being named Defensive Player of the Week, White, Heinold and redshirt junior Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.) have been named Player of the Week.
Daemen (15-3, 7-1 ECC), which is ranked eighth in this week's NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region media poll, is off to its best start since the 2010-11 season when the Wildcats also won 15 of their first 18 games. Daemen is idle until Saturday (Feb. 1) when it travels to rival Roberts Wesleyan College for an ECC game.
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.
