GAME #27 - EAST COAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINAL
(#2 SEED) DAEMEN WILDCATS (21-5, 13-3 ECC) vs. (#3 SEED) NEW YORK TECH BEARS (20-9, 12-4 ECC)
SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2020
UDC SPORTS COMPLEX (WASHINGTON, D.C.) - 2:30 PM

TICKETS
$10 - general admission
$5 - students with ID, senior citizens, children ages 5-12

FASTBREAK POINTS: 10 THINGS TO KNOW
1. Daemen begins its quest for a first-ever East Coast Conference Tournament championship Saturday afternoon when the second-seeded Wildcats take on third-seeded New York Tech in the semifinal round. The game will take place at the UDC Sports Complex on the campus of the University of the District of Columbia. The winner moves on to the ECC Tournament finals on Sunday, March 10 to face the winner of top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas College and fourth-seeded Molloy College. The tournament champion earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament. The entire NCAA Tournament field will be announced Sunday, March 8 on NCAA.com.

2. Daemen and NY Tech split their two regular season meetings, with each team winning on their home court. Daemen rallied for a 52-46 win at Lumsden Gymnasium on Jan. 26, before the Bears answered with a 47-43 win at Recreation Hall last weekend. The two teams met in the semifinals of the ECC Tournament last year and the third-seeded Bears upset the second-seeded Wildcats 65-44.

3. Daemen has posted its first 20-win season since 2012-13. The Wildcats also posted a 13 game winning streak during the season, which ranks as the longest winning streak of their NCAA era (2015-present).         

4. Daemen leads the ECC in scoring margin (+14.0), ranks second in scoring offense (69.0 ppg) and ranks third in scoring defense (55.0 papg). 15 of Daemen's 21 wins have been by 15 or more points.       

5. Daemen is the only team in the ECC that features four players ranked among the league's top-15 scoring leaders. Tiara Filbert ranks third among the league scoring leaders (14.2), Caroline White ranks sixth (13.3 ppg), Katie Titus ranks eighth (12.6 ppg) and Jordan Heinold ranks 11th (12.1 ppg).

NEW YORK TECH SCOUTING REPORT

• New York Tech returns 10 players and five starters from last year's team that finished 23-9 overall (12-6 ECC), claimed the ECC Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Bears were voted first in the ECC preseason poll.
• NY Tech has advanced to the championship game of the ECC Tournament each of the last three seasons and claimed its first-ever ECC Tournament title last year.
• Head coach Kenny Parham is in his fourth season at NYIT. He enters this weekend with a career record of 80-42 and has led the Bears to the NCAA Tournament two of the last three seasons.
• The Bears advanced to the ECC Tournament semifinals following a 61-59 win over sixth-seeded University of Bridgeport Wednesday.
• The Bears enter the weekend riding a nine-game winning streak.
• New York Tech ranks second in the ECC and 11th among all Division II teams in scoring defense. The Bears are allowing just 53.8 points per game and have held 11 of their 29 opponents to less than 50 points.
• Sophomore forward Ketsia Athias and junior forward Meg Knollmeyer have led the way thus far. Athias is coming off a solid rookie season in which she averaged 7.1 points and 8.5 rebounds and ranked second in the ECC in blocks (66). This season she leads the team in points per game (11.8) and rebounds per game (8.8) and has posted a league-high 57 blocks. Knollmeyer earned first-team All-ECC honors last year and was the 2019-20 ECC Preseason Player of the Year. She totaled 22 points, 13 rebounds, two blocks and six rebounds in a recent win over STAC and is averaging 11.0 points and 8.1 rebounds with a team-high 72 steals.
• Additional production is coming from junior guard Shalie Frierson (10.6 ppg, 35 3pt FGs) and sophomore guard Zoe Amalbert (8.8 ppg, 4.0 apg).

SERIES HISTORY VS. NEW YORK TECH
All-Time Series: NYIT leads 12-3
At Neutral Site: NYIT leads 1-0
Current Streak: NYIT won 1
Last Meeting: New York Tech 47, Daemen 43 | Mar. 1, 2020 | at Old Westbury, N.Y.

DAEMEN QUICK FACTS
Daemen returns three starters and seven players from last year. Daemen posted an 11-game winning streak, won 14 of its final 15 regular-season games and posted a 15-3 league record last year. Seeded second in the ECC Championships, the Wildcats were upset by New York Tech in the semifinals and closed out the year with an 18-10 overall record. The 18 wins were the most since the 2012-13 season. Daemen entered the 2019-20 season ranked third in the ECC preseason poll and ninth in the Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region preseason poll.

BANKER'S BACK
Jenepher Banker enters her fourth season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen. She has led the Wildcats to a 62-47 overall record and a 45-25 mark in the ECC since the start of the 2016-17 season. Last year she led Daemen to an 18-10 overall record, a 15-3 league record and a second-straight appearance in the ECC Championship Tournament. The 18 wins were the most for the Wildcats since the program transitioned to NCAA Division II in 2013-14. She also recorded her 100th victory as a collegiate head coach during the 2018-19 season. Banker arrived at Daemen with nearly 30 years of coaching experience at various levels, ranging from Division I to high school. Her first collegiate experience came as an assistant coach at Iowa State University (1986-88) and later as an assistant at Canisius College (1993-95). Between assistant coaching stops, Banker served as the head coach at Penn State-Behrend where she led the NCAA Division III program to a 67-61 overall record. Her 1991-92 team went 23-4, winning the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Region championship. That team garnered Penn State-Behrend's first-ever national ranking in any sport. She was inducted into Penn State-Behrend's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994. Banker ultimately settled at the high school level, coaching the varsity team at Grand Island High School from 1998-2013, building the Lady Vikings into a regional contender with seven Section VI championships, four appearances in the Far West Regional, and one appearance at the New York State final four.

BACK IN THE FOLD
Redshirt junior Tiara Filbert and sophomore Katie Titus top the list of returning players after earning all-conference honors last year. Filbert earned second-team All-ECC recognition after averaging 12.0 points per game with a team-high 76 assists. Titus took the ECC by storm over the second half of her freshman season, averaging 17.4 points and 8.9 rebounds over the final 15 games. For the season, she led the team in scoring (12.1 ppg), rebounding (7.2 rpg), three-pointers (42) and blocked shots (38), and was a first-team All-ECC honoree—as well as the ECC Rookie of the Year. Senior Jordan Heinold (6.3 ppg, 37 3pt FGs) also returns after making 24 starts last year. Junior guards Caroline White (7.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg) and Autumn Buchsenschutz (3.1 ppg, 45 asts) also return after playing major roles last season. Sophomore guard Sydney Barney and sophomore forward Mickayla Ivy round out the list of returning players.

PLENTY OF NEW FACES
The 2019-20 roster features nine newcomers—one graduate transfer and eight freshmen. Graduate transfer Ashli Jeune (Westhampton, N.J.) and freshman Marina Maerkl (Binghampton, N.Y.) have seen consistent playing time. Jeune previously played at Division I Rutgers University and UNC-Wilmington. She has started all 26 games and scored a season-high 27 points in a win over Queens on Jan. 10. She earned ECC Player of the Week honors after scoring 25 points in a win at Roberts Wesleyan on Feb. 1. Maerkl led Seton Catholic to the Final Four of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class A Tournament as a junior and senior. She averaged a double-double as a senior and earned fourth-team Class A all-state honors. She has played in 23 games (10 minutes per game) and scored a season-high seven points in a recent win over Mercy. Freshman Tyra O'Meally-Turnbull (Niskayuna, N.Y.) has also contributed. She played at Niskayuna High School and was named the team's Outstanding Defensive Player as a junior. She has played in 16 games and totaled six points, eight rebounds and two blocks in a win over Bloomfield.

REGIONAL RECOGNITION
Daemen is ranked ninth in the final NCAA Division II East Region poll and fifth the final Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region media poll. Daemen entered the season ranked ninth in the D2SIDA East Region preseason poll and has been ranked in the last 15 D2SIDA East Region polls dating back to Feb. 4 of last year.

HISTORIC START
The Wildcats won 21 of their first 24 games this season, which ranks as the best start of their NCAA Division II era (2015-present) and their best start overall since opening the 2003–04 season by winning 26 of their first 29 games. The Wildcats won 13-straight games this year, which is a new program record for most consecutive wins during the program's NCAA Division II era (2015-present). It was the longest winning streak overall since the 2007-08 season when the Wildcats posted a 17-game winning streak.

THE NEXT STEP
Daemen is making its third-straight appearance in the ECC Championship, but is still looking for its first ECC Tournament victory. The Wildcats suffered a 76-64 loss at Roberts Wesleyan in the quarterfinals of the 2018 tournament. The Wildcats earned a bye in the semifinals last year, but were upset by New York Tech, 65-44.

LETHAL LEFTY
Redshirt junior Tiara Filbert was named the ECC Player of the Week for the second time this season on Feb. 17 after leading Daemen to league wins over St. Thomas Aquinas and Mercy. She totaled 35 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists over the two games, while shooting 52-percent (12-23) from the field. She scored 28 points in a recent win over Bridgeport and is averaging a team-high 14.2 points. She also leads the team in assists per  per game (3.6) and ranks third in rebounds per game (5.0). Among the ECC leaders she ranks third in points per game, third in minutes per game (34.9), fifth in free throw percentage (.773), sixth in assists per game (3.6) and 13th in field goal percentage (.421).

THE WHITE STUFF
Junior forward Caroline White earned ECC Player of the Week honors for the second time this season on Feb. 10 after leading the Wildcats to wins over Bridgeport and Queens. She totaled 40 points and 14 rebounds over the two games. White is producing career-high numbers for the Wildcats this season, as she ranks second on the team in points per game (13.3), rebounds per game (6.7), field goal percentage (.444) and minutes per game (33.6). Among the ECC leaders she ranks sixth in points per game, third in offensive rebounds per game (3.3), ninth in field goal percentage and eighth in total rebounds per game.

SUPER SOPHOMORE
Sophomore forward Katie Titus equaled her career-high with 27 points during a 64-35 win at District of Columbia last month and is averaging 12.6 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds per game. She also ranks second in three-pointers made (37). A two-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week selection, she also leads the team and ranks third among the ECC leaders in blocks (42). She was voted first team All-ECC and ECC Rookie of the Year last year after leading the team in points per game (12.1), rebounds per game (7.2), three-pointers (32) and blocks (38). She became the first women's basketball player from Daemen to garner a major award from the ECC since the Wildcats joined the conference. She also became the first freshman to earn first-team All-ECC honors since Madison Rowland of Queens College in 2013-14.

SENIOR SHARP SHOOTER
Senior Jordan Heinold was named ECC Player of the Week on Jan. 27 after leading the Wildcats to wins over Molloy and New York Tech. She is averaging 12.1 points with a team-high 66 three-pointers. She has totaled 174 three-pointers in 93 career games and ranks third among the program's all-time leaders. She is just four triples shy of becoming the fifth player in program history to make 70 or more three-pointers in a season—and the first since Raeann Stilwell made a school-record 77 in 2013-14.

SUDDEN IMPACT
Newcomer Ashli Jeune was named ECC Player of the Week on Feb. 3 after totaling six three-pointers and 25 points in a win at Roberts Wesleyan. She has started all 26 games and is averaging 9.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists.

20/20
Daemen has reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since the 2012-13 season—and the 16th time in program history.

PICKING UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF
Daemen was one of the hottest teams in the NCAA Division II East Region at the end of last year, as the Wildcats won 14 of their final 16 games. The Wildcats have won 21 of 26 games this year and are now 35-7 over their last 42 games dating back to last season.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Daemen has held 21 of its 26 opponents to 65 points or less and is 20-1 in those games. The Wildcats have also forced 492 turnovers and collected 244 steals. Daemen ranks third among ECC teams in both points allowed per game (55.0) and turnovers forced per game (18.9) and fourth in steals per game (9.4).

LONG RANGE THREATS
Daemen ranks first among ECC teams in three-pointers made per game (8.4) and three-pointers attempted per game (26.8). The Wildcats also rank third in three-point field goal percentage (.316). All five of Daemen's starters have made at least 25 three-pointers on the year. The Wildcats made a program-record 20 three-pointers in an 89-62 win over Queens on Jan. 10—which is tied for the most by an East Region team (U Sciences) ranks fifth among all NCAA Division II teams this season.

ROAD WARRIORS
Daemen has played 17 of its 26 games away from the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium—where the Wildcats went 9-0 this season and have won 18-straight games dating back to last season. The 18-game home winning streak ranks as the longest home winning streak among all NCAA Division II East Region teams. The Wildcats are 12-5 in road/neutral site games this season.

TALENTED STARTING FIVE
All five of Daemen's starters have been honored by the ECC at some point this season. Four have been honored as the ECC Player of the Week and three have been named the league's Defensive Player of the Week. Caroline White (twice), Tiara Filbert (twice), Jordan Heinold and Ashli Jeune have been named Player of the Week, while White, Heinold and Katie Titus (twice) have been selected Defensive Player of the Week. A Daemen player has received a weekly honor in nine of a possible 16 weeks.

NEXT JUMP BALL
A win Saturday would put Daemen in the championship game of the ECC Tournament for the first time ever.