Women's Basketball Rises To Fifth In D2SIDA Regional Poll

Marks Daemen's Highest Ascent In Sports Info Directors' Regional Rankings

2/17/2020 3:14:00 PM

By: By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

DAEMEN IN THE D2SIDA EAST REGION POLL THIS SEASON
PRESEASON	9
NOV. 18	9
NOV. 25	7
DEC. 2	10
DEC. 9	10
DEC. 16	10
JAN. 6	10
JAN. 13	9
JAN. 20	9
JAN. 27	8
FEB. 3	8
FEB. 10	7
FEB. 17	5

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's basketball team is on the move again, rising to their highest-ever ranking in the Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region media poll. The Wildcats, winners of 12-straight games overall and 17-straight home games, are ranked No. 5 this week. It marks Daemen's 15th consecutive appearance in the regional poll (a span that dates back to last season) which is conducted by sports information professionals from the East Coast Conference, Northeast-10 Conference and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference.

Daemen stands at 20-3 overall and atop the ECC standings with a 12-1 league record. The Wildcats extended both their overall and home winning streaks with wins over St. Thomas Aquinas (60-57) and Mercy (79-60) this past weekend. Friday night's defeat of regionally-ranked STAC was arguably the biggest win of Daemen's NCAA Division II era (2015-present). The Spartans, who dropped to No. 7 in this week's poll, entered the game with a 10-0 mark in ECC play.

Adelphi (23-2, 14-2 NE-10) lays claim to the No. 1 ranking again this week, and does so as a unanimous choice after garnering all six first-place votes. They are followed by U. Sciences (22-3, 15-1 CACC) and their 16-game winning streak at No. 2. Sciences is the only team in the region with a longer active winning streak than Daemen. No. 3 Stonehill (18-5, 14-3 NE-10) and No. Bentley (17-7, 12-4 NE-10) round out the teams ahead of the Wildcats.

Daemen continues to get solid production from a number of players in their lineup. They are the only team to boast three of the ECC's top eight scorers. Redshirt junior guard Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.) ranks second at 14.3 points per game.
Junior forward Caroline White (Fairport, N.Y.) is getting 13.9 points per game and ranks sixth, while sophomore forward Katie Titus (Penfield, N.Y.) ranks eighth at 13.0 points per game.

Starters Jordan Heinold (Hamburg, N.Y.) and Ashli Jeune (Westampton, N.J.) are also producing double-figure scoring. Heinold is averaging a career-high 11.8 points per game and has done major damage from behind the three-point arc. She ranks second among the ECC leaders in three-pointers made (59) and three-point shooting percentage (.424). Jeune is scoring 10.2 points per outing and leads the team in steals (41).

As a team, Daemen ranks 15th among all Division II teams in scoring defense, allowing just 55.0 points per game. The Wildcats have held 19 of their 23 opponents to 65 points or less, and are a perfect 19-0 when doing so. They also lead the ECC and rank 24th nationally in scoring margin (+15.8 ppg).

Daemen returns to action Friday, February 21 when they close the home portion of their regular season schedule by hosting the University of the District of Columbia for a 6 p.m. tip-off.

With the NCAA's regional advisory committees set to release their official regional rankings later this week, today's regional poll will be the last one published by D2SIDA this season. The NCAA will release official regional rankings on the next three Wednesdays leading up to the NCAA tournament selection show on Sunday, March 8.

D2SIDA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL EAST REGION MEDIA POLL - WEEK #12
	W-L	PTS	LAST WEEK
1. Adelphi (6)	23-2	60	1
2. U. Sciences	22-3	53	2
3. Stonehill	18-5	49	3
4. Bentley	17-7	41	6
5. DAEMEN	20-3	37	7
6. St. Anselm	16-6	27	5
7. St. Thomas Aquinas	18-5	25	4
8. Pace	18-7	19	8
9. New Haven	17-7	10	10
10. Le Moyne	16-8	8	9

( ) - denotes first-place votes

Dropped out: None
Others receiving votes: Post (1)

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.

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