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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
filbert wbb vs edinboro
61
Daemen DAEW 21-4, 13-2 ECC
68
Winner Molloy MOLW 19-8, 11-4 ECC
Daemen DAEW
21-4, 13-2 ECC
61
Final
68
Molloy MOLW
19-8, 11-4 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Daemen DAEW 19 9 12 21 61
Molloy MOLW 10 18 20 20 68

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

Wildcat Winning Streak Snapped At Molloy

Daemen Falls In Battle of Regionally Ranked Teams, Can Still Clinch ECC Regular Season Title With Win Sunday

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's basketball team's bid for a piece of history will have to wait for another day after the Wildcats fell 68-61 to Molloy College tonight in a meeting between two of the top East Coast Conference teams at Quealy Gymnasium. The Wildcats entered the contest looking to wrap up their first ECC regular season title, but instead suffered their first defeat since mid-December, snapping the longest winning streak of the program's NCAA Division II era at 13 games. 

With both teams included in the official NCAA Division II East Region rankings, it was the host Lions who emerged in the second half. After going to halftime knotted at 28-28, Molloy put up 40 second-half points and watched as the Wildcats went cold from behind the three-point line. Daemen, which has been one of the top three-point shooting teams in the ECC this season, shot just 2-for-19 from long distance after halftime. 

Molloy ran their winning streak to five-straight games, improving to 19-8 overall and 11-4 in conference play. Despite the loss, Daemen (21-4, 13-2 ECC) remains in first place in the ECC standings. The Wildcats, who have already clinched a top-two seed and a bye into the semifinal round of next week's ECC Championship tournament, can still capture the outright ECC regular season title with a win in their regular season finale Sunday at New York Tech. 

IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Junior Gabriella Aspuru and graduate student Kadijah Dickson provided the one-two punch for Molloy. Aspuru chalked up 16 points, seven rebounds, six assists, four blocks and a steal while shooting 5-for-7 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. Dickson, the ECC's leading scorer, filled the stat sheet as well, finishing with 15 points (all in the second half), eight boards and five assists.
  • Jenna Silletti (11 points) and Kathryn Gibson (nine points) were key contributors for the Lions as well with Silletti's effforts coming in a reserve role.
  • Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.) led Daemen with a game-high 22 points. She made good on 8-of-19 shots from the field, including a quartet of three-pointers.
  • Jordan Heinold (Hamburg, N.Y.) added 10 points to the Daemen cause.

QUARTER-BY-QUARTER SUMMARY
First Quarter (Daemen 19, Molloy 10) - After falling behind 6-2 early on, Daemen outscored the hosts 17-4 over the final 5:13 of the period to take control. Filbert caught fire, netting 12 points in the frame. She nailed a pair of three-pointers and Caroline White (Fairport, N.Y.) added another from downtown for the Wildcats.

Second Quarter (Molloy 18, Daemen 9) - The Lions were undeterred and opened the second stanza by scoring nine-straight points to pull even at 19-all. Silletti accounted for five points in the spurt, including the tying three-pointer at the 5:40 mark. Daemen finally got on the board with 5:18 to go as Filbert hit her third trifecta of the half, but Molloy forged ahead 23-22 less than a minute later on a layup by Aspuru. Autumn Buchsenschutz (Port Allegany, Pa.) came off the bench to make a pair of three-pointers in the final 1:09, putting Daemen back ahead 28-25 before Molloy's Katie Marquardt beat the buzzer with a tying three-pointer. 

Third Quarter (Molloy 20, Daemen 12) - Another Filbert three-pointer gave Daemen a 35-33 lead early in the period, but Molloy stormed back and took the lead on a jumper by Dickson. With their leading scorer coming to life, Molloy outscored Daemen 15-5 over the final 6:41 of the frame. An old-fashioned three-point play by Gibson at the 1:29 mark snapped a 39-39 tie and sparked the Lions on a 9-1 spurt to close the period. 

Fourth Quarter (Daemen 21, Molloy 20) - Daemen clawed within six (48-42) following two free throws by Heinold on the first possession of the quarter. Molloy scored the next five, including a layup by Gibson at the 7:16 mark that extended the Lions' lead to double figures (53-42) for the first time. Daemen managed to pull within seven with 3:19 to play when White's jumper made it 59-52, but Molloy answered with back-to-back buckets from Silletti and Dickson. The Lions went on to shoot 5-for-6 from the charity stripe over the final 1:01 to keep any thoughts of a Daemen comeback at bay. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Daemen shot a season-low 28.8% from the field (19-for-66). The Wildcats finished 8-for-36 from three-point range (22.2%). Daemen came in is as the ECC leader in made threes per game (8.7) and ranking second in the conference in three-point shooting percentage (33.0%). 
  • Molloy enjoyed 52.9% shooting overall (27-for-51) and offset a relative lack of three-point presence (3-for-10) with an 11-for-13 showing at the charity stripe (84.6%).
  • Molloy put up a 42-16 advantage in points in the paint.

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 is No. 6 and Molloy is No. 9 in the official NCAA Division II East Region rankings released earlier this week. The NCAA releases 10-team regional rankings in three successive weeks leading up to the NCAA Championship Selection Show on Sunday, March 8.
  • The game featured two of the top defensive teams in the country. Molloy entered the game as the ECC leader (and ranking sixth nationally) in scoring defense, allowing just 52.6 points per game. Daemen isn't far off, ranking third in the ECC and 16th nationally as they allow just 54.8 points per outing. 
  • Daemen is now 35-6 over its last 41 games dating back to last season.
  • Daemen's 13-game winning streak that was snapped tonight ranks as their longest since a 17-game streak during the 2007-08 season. It also ranked as the second-longest streak among the 37 teams that comprise the NCAA Division II East Region. Prior to tonight, Daemen's last defeat came December 15 at St. Thomas Aquinas College, a 67-62 final.
  • The result also snapped Daemen's six-game winning streak in the all-time series with Molloy. The Lions got their first win in the series since a 52-45 final on January 14, 2017. Daemen leads the all-time series 10-4, but Molloy leads 4-3 in games played at Quealy Gymnasium. 
  • Despite the loss, Filbert continued her strong play for the Wildcats. It marked her fifth 20-point game of the season and she's now averaging 17.3 points over the last six games. Filbert leads Daemen in scoring (14.4 ppg) this season and has now totaled 949 points in 82 career games.
  • Heinold extended a pair of personal streaks tonight. She's now made at least one three-pointer in 17-straight games and has also reached double-figure scoring in 10-straight contests.

NEXT JUMP BALL
Daemen closes the regular season Sunday (March 1) when they visit New York Tech for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off.  

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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