AMHERST, N.Y. - Redshirt junior Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.) scored 20 points and senior Jordan Heinold (Hamburg, N.Y.) added 19 points to lead regionally-ranked Daemen College to a 79-60 victory over Mercy College here today in East Coast Conference women's basketball action. Daemen notched its 20th victory of the season and improved to 20-3 overall and 12-1 in the ECC. The Wildcats remain in first place in the ECC standings with three regular-season games to play. Mercy dropped to 7-17 overall and 1-12 in the league.

The host Wildcats also extended two impressive winning streaks today. They ran their overall winning streak to 12-straight games, which ranks as the second longest current winning among the 37 NCAA Division II East Region teams. Nationally-ranked University of the Sciences tops the list with 16-straight wins. In addition, the 12-straight wins is now a new program record for most consecutive wins during the program's NCAA Division II era (2015-present). Daemen put together an 11-game winning streak last season.

Daemen, which is 20-3 for the first time since the 2003-04 season, also extended its home winning streak to 17-straight games dating back to last season. The 17-straight home wins ranks as the most among all NCAA Division II East Region teams.

The Wildcats, who posted a big 60-57 win over regionally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas College Friday night, entered the weekend ranked seventh in the East Region by the Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA). Daemen is currently one of only three teams in the region to reach 20 wins.

IMPACT PLAYERS

• Filbert, who scored a team-high 15 points in the win over STAC Friday night, made 6-of-10 shots and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. She also totaled a team-high six rebounds and handed out three assists.
• Heinold made 7-of-9 shots overall and was 3-of-4 from three-point land. She also contributed a team-high three steals. She has made 33 three-pointers and is shooting 49-percent (33-of-68) from downtown during Daemen's 12-game winning streak.
• Graduate student Ashli Jeune (Westhampton, N.J.) added seven points, four rebounds, a team-high six assists and two steals.
• Sophomore Katie Titus (Penfield, N.Y.) and junior Caroline White (Fairport, N.Y.) both finished with nine points, while freshman Marina Maerkl (Binghamton, N.Y.) added seven points and three rebounds in just 12 minutes off the bench.
• Freshman Katie Wall went 3-of-4 from downtown for the Mavericks and finished with a game-high 19 points. Senior Abigail Collier made 7-of-9 shots and finished with 17 points, while freshman Kellie Nudd added 13 points and five assists.

QUARTER-BY-QUARTER SUMMARY
First Quarter (Daemen 25, Mercy 15) - Filbert, Titus and Heinold all made three-pointers early to help the Wildcats build a 9-2 lead. Mercy responded with a 10-4 run and cut the lead to a points (13-12) after Wall hit a three-pointer with 4:40 left in the frame. The Wildcats answered with back-to-back buckets by Heinold and the hosts later took a 23-14 lead after Jeune made one-of-two free throws with 2:14 left in the quarter.

Second Quarter (Daemen 22, Mercy 7) - Mercy went without a basket for the first four minutes of the second quarter, and Daemen took advantage with a 10-0 run. Filbert scored six points during the run and a steal and layup by Titus with 6:43 left before halftime capped the spurt and gave the Wildcats a 35-15 lead. Heinold's third three-pointer of the half made it 40-17 midway through the quarter and the scoring pace died down over the final five minutes of the frame.

Third Quarter (Mercy 21, Daemen 17) - Daemen took a 56-29 lead just 1:14 into the third quarter after White hit a three-pointer off a pass from Jeune. The Daemen lead was still 26 points (64-38) after Jeune made two free throws with 2:24 left in the frame, but the Wildcats went scoreless the rest of the quarter and Mercy converted 5-of-6 free throws to make it a 21-point game (64-43) after three quarters.

Fourth Quarter (Mercy 17, Daemen 15) - Maerkl gave the hosts a 24-point lead (72-48) midway through the final quarter, but Mercy scored the next six points and cut the lead to 18 points (72-54) following a three-pointer by Nudd with 2:59 left. Daemen answered with a conventional three-point play by Maerkl and a layup by sophomore Mickayla Ivy (Grand Rapids, Mich.) to regain a 23-point advantage.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Daemen shot 58-percent (18-31) from the field in the first half and made 29-of-57 (51%) shots overall. The Wildcats, who entered the game as the ECC leader in three-pointers made (8.9) and attempted (26.8) per game, made 7-of-23 from long range today and canned 14-of-17 from the charity stripe.
• Mercy attempted just eight shots in the second quarter and finished 19-of-38 (50%) from the field overall. The Mavericks canned 5-of-11 from downtown and made 17-of-22 from the free throw line.
• Daemen entered the game as the ECC leader in assists per game (15.7). The Wildcats registered 10 assists on 18 field goals in the first half and finished with 16 assists today.
• The hosts finished with an advantage in points off turnovers (26-7), second chance points (10-9) and points in the paint (38-22).

GAME NOTES

• Daemen has reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since the 2012-13 season—and the 16th time in program history.
• The Wildcats have already clinched a spot in the six-team ECC Championship Tournament. Daemen can secure one of the top two seeds and a first round bye with one more victory.
• Daemen entered the weekend ranked 15th among all Division II schools in scoring defense (54.6 papg). Daemen has held 17 of its 23 opponents to 60 points or less and the Wildcats are a perfect 17-0 in those games.
• Daemen is now 34-5 over its last 39 games dating back to last season.
• Heinold has now made at least one three-pointer in 15-straight games. She recently registered her 150th career three-pointer and has totaled 167 three-pointers in 90 career games. She ranks fourth among the program's all-time leaders and stands six three-pointers shy of moving into the top three. She has made a career-high 59 three-pointers this year and is just one triple shy of becoming the seventh player in program history to make 60 or more three-pointers in a season—and the first since Raeann Stilwell in 2014-15.
• Filbert has averaged 18 points and 5.3 assists over the past four games. She scored her 900th career point today and has totaled 917 points, 210 assists and 96 steals in 80 career games
• White registered her 400th career rebound today and has totaled 728 points and 403 rebounds in 76 career games.
• Jeune has recorded at least one steal in eight-straight games and has totaled a team-high 41 steals on the year.
   

NEXT JUMP BALL
The Wildcats play their final regular-season home game of the year Friday (Feb. 21) when they host the University of the District of Columbia in 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.