AMHERST, N.Y. - As the saying goes, 'Good teams just find a way to win.'

That was the case tonight for the Daemen College women's basketball team, as they shook off an upset bid by the University of the District of Columbia en route to a 61-50 victory tonight at Lumsden Gymnasium. Daemen improved to 21-3 overall and 13-1 in the ECC, and remained in first place in the ECC standings with two regular season games to play. UDC dropped to 7-18 overall and 3-10 in the league.

The Wildcats have already clinched a spot in the six-team ECC Championship Tournament, and with tonight's win they secured one of the top two seeds and a first round bye. This marks the third-straight season that Daemen has earned an ECC Championship berth. The tournament will get underway on March 4 with first-round games hosted by the No. 3 and 4 seeds. The tournament's No. 1 and 2 seeds receive a bye into the semifinal round. The ECC Championship semifinals (March 7) and finals (March 8) will be held in Washington, D.C. at the UDC Sports Complex.

The host Wildcats extended two impressive winning streaks tonight. They ran their overall winning streak to 13-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 17-straight wins. In addition, the 13-straight wins extends the program record for most consecutive wins during its NCAA Division II era (2015-present). Daemen put together an 11-game winning streak last season.

Daemen, which is 21-3 for the first time since the 2003-04 season, also extended its home winning streak to 18-straight games dating back to last season. The 18-straight home wins ranks as the most among all NCAA Division II East Region teams.

The Wildcats entered the weekend ranked fifth in both the NCAA Division II East Region poll and the Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region media poll. Daemen is currently one of only three teams in the region to reach 20 wins.

IMPACT PLAYERS

• All but two of Daemen's 61 points came from their starting five.
• Senior Jordan Heinold (Hamburg, N.Y.) made the most of her senior night and finished with a team-high 18 points. She went 3-of-8 from three-point land tonight and is shooting 47-percent (36-of-77) from downtown during Daemen's 12-game winning streak.
• Sophomore Katie Titus (Penfield, N.Y.) added 17 points, 13 rebounds, two blocks and two steals. It marks the second double-double for Titus against the Firebirds this season, as she totaled a career-high 27 points and 10 boards in a 64-35 victory last month in Washington, D.C.
• Junior Caroline White (Fairport, N.Y.) scored a team-high 10 points in the second half and finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and two steals.
• Redshirt junior Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.) added 10 points, five rebounds and four assists, while graduate student Ashli Jeune (Westhampton, N.J.) chipped in three points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks in her final home game.
• Freshman guard Halia Ellis, who scored just four points against the Wildcats last month, paced the Firebirds with 18 points and five assists. She made 7-of-18 shots overall and went 3-of-7 from downtown. Junior guard Maya Thomas added 11 points, nine rebounds and two steals for the visitors.

QUARTER-BY-QUARTER SUMMARY
First Quarter (UDC 15, Daemen 12) - Daemen held an 8-5 lead midway through the quarter, but a three-pointer by Thomas tied the game and the Firebirds later took a 15-10 lead following a layup by Thomas with two minutes left in the frame. A jumper by Filbert a minute later would be only scoring the remainder of the quarter.

Second Quarter (Daemen 21, UDC 16) - UDC increased its lead to 17-12 following a layup by junior Hunter Rowson a minute into the quarter, but Daemen scored the next five points and the game was tied at 17-17 three minutes into the quarter. The Firebirds later took their largest lead of the half, 25-19, following a three-pointer by Thomas with 5:35 left before halftime, but the host Wildcats struck for eight straight points in just 1:32 to take a 29-25 lead. The teams traded baskets the rest of the quarter and Daemen took a 33-31 lead into the break.

Third Quarter (Daemen 16, UDC 6) - Neither team scored for the first three minutes of the quarter and the game was tied at 34-34 when the Wildcats got a jumper by White and back-to-back three-pointers by Titus to take a 42-34 lead. UDC answered with a bucket by junior Mia Boyd, but the Wildcats closed the quarter with a 7-1 run and the hosts took a 49-37 lead into the final quarter.

Fourth Quarter (UDC 13, Daemen 12) - Daemen went scoreless for just over three minutes at the start of the fourth quarter, which allowed the Firebirds to cut the lead to five points, 49-44. The teams then traded baskets before White hit a corner three-pointer off a feed from Titus to make it 54-46 Daemen. A key point of the game came with just over three minutes to play. Jeune blocked a UDC attempt which led to a fast break layup by Heinold, who was fouled and made the free throw to give the hosts a 60-48 lead. UDC managed just one field goal and Daemen was limited to just one free throw over the final three minutes.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Daemen shot 52-percent (13-25) from the field in the first half and made 23-of-53 (43%) shots overall. The 53 attempts ranks as the second fewest in a game for Daemen this season. The Wildcats, who entered the game as the ECC leader in three-pointers made (8.8) and attempted (26.6) per game, made 7-of-22 from long range today and canned 8-of-13 from the charity stripe.
• UDC made just 2-of-13 field goals in the third quarter and finished 21-of-67 (31%) from the field overall. The Firebirds, who did not make a three-pointer (0-15) the last time these teams met, canned 5-of-20 from downtown and made 3-of-5 from the free throw line tonight.
• UDC forced 20 turnovers tonight, which it converted into a 21-13 advantage in points off turnovers. Daemen finished with the edge in second chance points (10-7), while points in the paint was even at 22-22.

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.
• Daemen entered the weekend ranked 16th among all Division II schools in scoring defense (55.0 papg). Daemen has now held 20 of its 24 opponents to 65 points or less and the Wildcats are a perfect 20-0 in those games.
• Daemen is now 35-5 over its last 40 games dating back to last season.
• Daemen is now 19-0 this season when leading at the half.
• Daemen has now prevailed in the last seven meetings with UDC and the all-time series is now tied at 7-7.
• Heinold has now made at least one three-pointer in 16-straight games. She has totaled a career-high 62 three-pointers this season and has become 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. She has totaled 170 three-pointers in 91 career games and ranks fourth among the program's all-time leaders. She stands three three-pointers shy of moving into the top three.
• Filbert has now scored in double figures in five-straight games. She has totaled 927 points, 214 assists and 98 steals in 81 career games.
• White has totaled 148 rebounds this season and is now two rebounds shy of posting a new career-high for rebounds in a season. She has already posted career-highs for points (302), assists (40) and steals (27) in a season.
• Titus has posted a team-high six double-doubles this year—all of which have come during the current 13-game winning streak. She has scored 655 points in 52 career games (12.6 pg) and is just six rebounds shy of 400 for her career.
• Jeune saw her streak of eight-straight games with at least one steal come to an end tonight.

NEXT JUMP BALL
The Wildcats close out the regular season next weekend when they travel to Long Island, N.Y. to face Molloy College (Feb. 28) and New York Tech (Mar. 1) in ECC games.

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.