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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
heinold wbb vs stac
43
Daemen DAEW 21-5, 13-3 ECC
47
Winner New York Tech NYITW 19-9, 12-4 ECC
Daemen DAEW
21-5, 13-3 ECC
43
Final
47
New York Tech NYITW
19-9, 12-4 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Daemen DAEW 7 10 14 12 43
New York Tech NYITW 14 6 12 15 47

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

Daemen Shares ECC Regular Season Title Following Loss To NY Tech

Wildcats Will Enter Conference Tournament As #2 Seed

OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. - A valiant comeback effort in the waning minutes came up just short as the Daemen College women's basketball team tasted defeat for the second-straight game, falling to host New York Tech 47-43 in the regular season finale for both East Coast Conference affiliates. A defensive tussle from start to finish, the game featured six second-half lead changes and a late rally by the Wildcats who had a go-ahead three-point attempt carom off the rim with under 10 seconds to play. 

Despite the loss, Daemen lays claim to a share of the program's first ECC regular season title. The Wildcats close the regular season at 21-5 overall and 13-3 in ECC play, tied atop the conference standings with St. Thomas Aquinas College (21-6, 13-3). 

New York Tech, which suffered a 52-46 loss to the Wildcats in late January, improved to 19-9 overall and 12-4 in conference with their win today. The Bears head into the postseason as winners in eight-straight games. 

ECC TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK
  • The six-team ECC Championship tournament will get underway this week with first-round games on campus sites (Wednesday, March 4). The semifinals (Saturday, March 7) and finals (Sunday, March 8) will held in our nation's capital at the University of the District of Columbia Sports Complex. 
  • Daemen will enter as the No. 2 seed for the second consecutive season. The Wildcats clinched a top-two seed with their 61-50 win over the District of Columbia on February 21, earning a bye into the semifinal round. They will await the winner of No. 3 New York Tech and No. 6 University of Bridgeport.
  • By virtue of their win today, New York Tech claimed the tournament's No. 3 seed. Molloy College is locked in as the No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 Roberts Wesleyan College. The Molloy-Roberts Wesleyan winner advances to Saturday's semifinals to face No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas. 
  • All ECC Championship games will be broadcast on the ECC Network, and Sunday's final will be broadcast across ESPN's streaming platforms as part of the NCAA Division II Basketball Showcase. 

IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Shalie Frierson put up a game-high 16 points, and Kelsey Athias scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds to pace the victorious Bears. 
  • Carol Arfinengo (seven points, five rebounds) and Haley Dalonzo (five points, two assists) played key roles off the New York Tech bench, comining for more points (12) than the Bears' other three starters (10). 
  • Senior guard/forward Jordan Heinold (Hamburg, N.Y.) was the lone Daemen player to reach double figures. She made all three of Daemen's three-point field goals in the contest and finished with 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.
  • Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.) and Caroline White (Fairport, N.Y.) each totaled eight points and seven rebounds. Filbert added four assists as well. 

QUARTER-BY-QUARTER SUMMARY
First Quarter (New York Tech 14, Daemen 7) - Daemen got off to a chilly start offensively, making just three of their 13 field goal attempts and committing seven turnovers in the opening frame. The Bears, albeit not much better from the field (5-for-14), took advantage by gaining an early 9-3 lead with Athias and Frierson accounting for all nine points. Athias split a pair of free throws with six ticks left to make it a seven-point advantage (14-7) and then blocked Daemen's buzzer-beating three-point attempt.

Second Quarter (Daemen 10, New York Tech 6) - Baskets for both teams remained at a premium in the second stanza. The Wildcats (3-for-17) and Bears (3-for-13) combined for 20% shooting in the period. Still, Daemen managed to pull within 18-17 on a long jumper by Filbert at the 2:28 mark. Frierson answered with a hoop on New York Tech's next possession and the teams went to halftime with the Bears leading 20-17. 

Third Quarter (Daemen 14, New York Tech 12) - Daemen finally settled in offensively and went on a 12-4 run that spanned nearly six minutes. The Wildcats grabbed their first lead of the game (23-22) on a jumper by freshman Marina Maerkl (Binghamton, N.Y.) and later took a 31-26 lead when White notched back-to-back buckets. But, the hosts responded with a pair of three-pointers in the final minute - one from Frierson and one from Dalonzo just before the buzzer - to take a 32-31 lead into the final quarter. 

Fourth Quarter (New York Tech 15, Daemen 12) - The New York Tech spurt extended into the fourth quarter as Arfinengo burried a three-pointer on their first possession. Daemen climbed back within a point, first on a Heinold three-pointer at the 6:01 mark (37-36) and again on a jumper by White with 4:29 to go (39-38). But the Wildcats saw their offense go cold again, misfiring on five-straight field goal attempts. The drought allowed the Bears to gain some breathing room, eventually going ahead 45-38 when Zoe Amalbert made a pair of free throws with 39 seconds showing on the clock. Daemen answered back with five-straight points to get within a single possession (45-43). Heinold buried her third three-pointer of the game, ending Daemen's nearly four-minute field goal drought. Following a Bears timeout, Katie Titus (Penfield, N.Y.) stole the inbounds pass leading to eventual free throws for White who knocked them down. New York Tech senior Meg Knollmeyer left the door open for the Wildcats as she missed a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left. Daemen rushed the ball down the floor and got it to Heinold who had a clean look from about 24 feet out on the left wing, but her attempt fell short. Autumn Buchsenschutz (Port Allegany, Pa.) came down with the offensive rebound in traffic, but fell to the ground before she could unload a pass resulting in a travel call. Knollmeyer ended up back at the free throw line where she put the game out of reach by canning two throws with three ticks remaining. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Both teams struggled to generate offense. Daemen shot season-lows from the field (27% - 17-for-63) and three-point range (11.5% - 3-for-26). The Bears were only marginally better, making 15-of-53 shots from the field (28.3%) and 4-of-20 from downtown (20%). 
  • New York Tech was able to offset some of their offensive woes by shooting 13-of-16 from the charity stripe. Daemen shot 100% from the line, but got their only six times.
  • Daemen's 43 points were a season-low. The Wildcats came into this weekend ranked second in the ECC in scoring offense, averaging 70.4 points per game.
  • It also marked Daemen's first loss this season when surrendering less than 65 points. The Wildcats had been 20-0 in such contests before today. 

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's 21 wins are the most of the program's NCAA Division II era (2015-present). 
  • Daemen is No. 6 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.
  • Daemen has lost back-to-back games for the first time since dropping five-straight from December 14, 2018 through January 5, 2019. The Wildcats are 35-7 in the 42 games since then. 
  • Daemen and New York Tech have split their regular season meetings in each of the last three campaigns. New York Tech holds a 12-3 advantage all-time, and is undefeated (7-0) against Daemen in games played at Recreation Hall.
  • Since Daemen came into the ECC in 2013-14, New York Tech leads the conference in overall (143) and conference (92) wins. 
  • Heinold extended a pair of personal streaks today. She's now made at least one three-pointer in 18-straight games and has also reached double-figure scoring in 11-straight contests.

NEXT JUMP BALL
Daemen will head to the UDC Sports Complex for Saturday's (March 7) ECC Championship semifinal contest. They'll face the winner of Wednesday's first round game between third-seeded New York Tech and sixth-seeded Bridgeport. 

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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