WASHINGTON, D.C. - The historic season for the Daemen College women's basketball team will continue for at least another week.
The Wildcats claimed their first-ever East Coast Conference tournament title and earned the league's automatic bid to the 64-team National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II Championship following a gutsy 68-56 victory over Molloy College here today in the championship game of the 2020 ECC Tournament. Daemen will be making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the Wildcats first became eligible in 2016.
Daemen, which was making its first-ever appearance in the ECC Tournament championship game, improves to 23-5 on the year. The 23 wins are the most of Daemen's NCAA Division II era (2015-present) and the most since the Wildcats went 26-7 in 2012-13. Molloy, which saw its eight-game winning streak come to an end, dropped to 22-9. The Lions are in contention for one of the five at-large bids to the East Regional of the NCAA Tournament. The entire NCAA Tournament field will be unveiled tonight at 10 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Today's game took place at the UDC Sports Complex on the campus of the University of the District of Columbia and was streamed nationwide on ESPN3 as part of the NCAA Division II Basketball Showcase.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Daemen's five starters accounted for 66 of the team's 68 points.
- Tournament Most Outstanding Player Katie Titus (Penfield, N.Y.) racked up her second double-double of the weekend, as she totaled 24 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. The sophomore forward connected on 10-of-21 field goals and made 3-of-3 from the charity stripe. A second-team All-ECC pick this year, she totaled 16 points and 14 caroms in yesterday's 76-56 win over New York Tech in the semifinals.
- Redshirt junior Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.), an all-tournament selection, played all 40 minutes for the second-straight game and totaled 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists. A first-team All-ECC pick this year, she scored a team-high 20 points in the semifinals.
- Junior Caroline White (Fairport, N.Y.) was also named to the all-tournament team. A first-team All-ECC pick this year, she added 12 points, seven rebounds and two steals this afternoon.
- Senior Jordan Heinold (Hamburg, N.Y.), a third-team All-ECC pick this year, saw limited playing time due to foul trouble, but still managed to total 10 points and four boards in 21 minutes of action.
- Graduate student Ashli Jeune (Westhampton, N.J.) played a season-high 39 minutes and contributed seven points, four rebounds and six assists.
- Reserve guard Autumn Buchsenschutz (Port Allegany, Pa.) saw significant playing time for the second-straight day and produced two points, two rebounds and two assists.
- Graduate student Kadijah Dickson and junior Gabriella Aspuru were both named to the all-tournament team for Molloy. Dickson totaled 26 points and five rebounds, while Aspuru added 15 points, five boards and two steals.
QUARTER-BY-QUARTER SUMMARY
First Quarter (Daemen 14, Molloy 9) - Molloy scored the first seven points of the game, but the Wildcats responded with a 10-0 run of their own and took a 10-7 lead after White made two free throws with just over four minutes left in the quarter. Molloy scored its first points in nearly four minutes on their next possession, but the Lions would go scoreless the rest of the quarter and Daemen regained a five points lead, 14-9, after Filbert canned two free throws with 1:47 left. Neither team scored the rest of way.
Second Quarter (Daemen 15, Molloy 13) - Both teams struggled to score early in the second quarter and the Daemen lead was 16-11 four minutes into the frame when the Wildcats strung together seven unanswered points and took a 12-point lead, 23-11, after Filbert fed Titus for a layup with just under five minutes left before halftime. Dickson quickly cut the lead in half, as she converted back-to-back conventional three-point plays, but Filbert fed Titus for another layup and Filbert scored following an offensive rebound to push the Daemen lead back to double digits, 27-17. Molloy came up empty on its next possession, but Daemen could not take advantage and the Lions were able to cut the lead to seven points, 27-20, after sophomore Katie Marquardt hit a three-pointer with 1:18 left in the frame. Filbert fed Titus down low again on Daemen's next trip down the floor, and Molloy closed out the first half scoring when senior Kathryn Gibson canned two free throws with 33 seconds left.
Third Quarter (Molloy 17, Daemen 20) - Shots started to fall for both teams at the start of the third quarter, as the teams traded buckets for the first five minutes of the frame and the Daemen lead was still seven points (41-34) midway through the stanza. Titus bumped that up to 12 points, 46-34, when she delivered a layup off a nice feed from Jeune and a three-pointer off a kick out by freshman Marina Maerkl (Binghamton, N.Y.). The Wildcats went scoreless over the final 3:20 of the quarter and Daemen was clinging to a four point lead, 46-42, heading into the final 10 minutes.
Fourth Quarter (Daemen 22, Molloy 14) - A jumper by Dickson 40 seconds into the final quarter made it a two point game, but Daemen answered with a three-pointer by White and two free throws by Titus to regain a 51-44 lead. Molloy answered with a jumper by Dickson and later made it a one point game, 51-50, after Aspuru made two free throws with 5:35 to play. Both teams had chances to score over the next 1:21, but the score remained 51-50 until Heinold drained a clutch three-pointer off a feed from Filbert. Dickson was off the mark on Molloy's next possession and Heinold made two free throws with 3:31 left to make it 56-50 Daemen. A key point in the game came with just over two minutes left and Daemen up 56-51. The Wildcats grabbed two offensive rebounds during a flurry of action around the Daemen hoop, and the effort eventually paid off when Jeune hit Titus with a nice no-look pass and Titus converted the layup for a 58-51 Daemen lead. Both teams came up empty on their next possession and after a Molloy turnover Filbert made two free throws to give Daemen a 60-51 lead with 1:06 left. Molloy came no closer than eight points (64-56) down the stretch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- After shooting just 28-percent (10-36) overall and making just 1-of-13 three-pointers in the first half, Daemen connected on 11-of-24 (46%) shots overall and 5-of-11 from downtown in the second half. Daemen also finished a perfect 20-for-20 from the free throw line, including a 12-for-12 mark in the fourth quarter.
- Molloy made just 2-of-15 shots in the fourth quarter and finished 16-of-59 (27%) from the field overall. The Lions made just 3-of-12 three-point attempts, but kept the game close by hitting 21-of-23 free throws.
- Daemen dominated the glass for the second-straight game, as the Wildcats posted a 48-34 edge in total rebounds and grabbed 18 offensive rebounds. Molloy finished with a slight edge in points off turnovers (15-14) and second chance points (13-12), while Wildcats held a sizable advantage in points in the paint (28-14).
HEAD COACH JENEPHER BANKER POST-GAME COMMENTS
On Winning The Championship
"I am so proud of these guys. This has been a goal since last spring and they have worked so hard to get here.
On Team Composure Late In The Game
"We always talk about staying focused and staying in our box. Don't listen to the outside noise and don't get flustered. They did that today."
TOURNAMENT MOP KATIE TITUS POST-GAME COMMENTS
On Making Team History
"We talk about it all the time, making history for our program. That's definitely what we did today.
On Dominating The Boards This Weekend
"We pride ourselves on winning the rebounding war every single game. We did that this weekend and it gave us some additional possessions."
GAME NOTES
- Women's basketball becomes the second sport from Daemen to win an ECC Tournament championship. Women's volleyball also earned an ECC Tournament crown in 2018, ironically with a 3-1 win over Molloy in the championship match.
- Daemen, Jefferson University and Stonehill College have claimed the region's three automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament. Jefferson defeated Holy Family, 63-59, in the Central Athletic Collegiate Conference title game today, while Stonehill knocked off Saint Anselm, 80-61, in the Northeast-10 Conference tournament championship today.
- Daemen has reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since the 2012-13 season—and the 16th time in program history.
- Daemen was making its third-straight appearance in the ECC Tournament. The Wildcats entered this weekend without a win in ECC Tournament action. Daemen suffered a 76-64 loss at Roberts Wesleyan in the quarterfinals of the 2018 tournament. The Wildcats earned a bye into the semifinals last year, but were upset by New York Tech, 65-44.
- Daemen has now held 23 of its 28 opponents to 65 points or less and the Wildcats are 22-1 in those games.
- Daemen is now 37-7 over its last 44 games dating back to last season.
- Heinold made one three-pointer today and has now made at least one three-pointer in 20-straight games. She has totaled a career-high 70 three-pointers this year and is just 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. She has totaled 178 three-pointers in 95 career games and ranks third among the program's all-time leaders.
- Filbert has now scored in double figures in eight of the last nine games. She will enter the NCAA Tournament just 10 points shy of 1,000 for her career and four rebounds shy of 400 career caroms.
- White has totaled career-highs for points (336), rebounds (181), assists (44) and steals (31) this season.
- Titus scored her 700th career point today. She has posted a career-high 367 points and 233 rebounds this season and has totaled 707 points (12.6 pg) and 435 rebounds (7.8 pg) over her two-year career.
- Jeune went 4-for-4 from the free throw line today and ranks second among the ECC leaders in free throws attempted (137) and made (95) this season.
- Daemen totaled 37 assists on just 46 field goals over the two games this weekend.
- Daemen becomes the fourth different ECC Tournament champion over the past four years. Molloy claimed the title in 2017, while St. Thomas Aquinas (2018) and New York Tech (2019) followed.
NEXT JUMP BALL
The 64-team field of the NCAA Division II Tournament will be revealed tonight (March 8) at 10 p.m. on NCAA.com. The eight-team East Regional will take place at a site to be determine the weekend of March 13-16.
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.
