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filbert vs mercyhurst
Tiara Filbert became the 25th member of Daemen's 1,000-point club today
64
Mercyhurst MERW 5-1,0-0 PSAC
82
Winner Daemen DAEW 1-0,0-0 ECC
Mercyhurst MERW
5-1,0-0 PSAC
64
Final
82
Daemen DAEW
1-0,0-0 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Mercyhurst MERW 9 16 13 26 64
Daemen DAEW 19 25 23 15 82

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | By Joe Kraus, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

Filbert crosses 1,000-point mark as Wildcats edge Lakers in season opener

AMHERST, N.Y. - Good things come to those who wait.

Redshirt senior guard Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.) scored a game-high 20 points, including the 1,000th of her career, to lead the Daemen women's basketball team past previously unbeaten Mercyhurst in their long-awaited 2020-21 season opener today at Lumsden Gymnasium. It marked Daemen's first game since March 8, 2020 - a span of 314 days - when they defeated Molloy to capture the program's first East Coast Conference championship. 

Daemen, which took the floor as a nationally-ranked team for the first time in the program's NCAA era, picks up their first win in a season opener since the 2017-18 season while denying Mercyhurst (5-1) its first 6-0 start since 1988-89. The Wildcats have won 38 of their last 45 games dating back to the 2018-19 season, and today's win extended their home winning streak to 19 straight games - the longest active streak among East Region teams. 


IMPACT PLAYERS

  • Filbert connected on 7-of-9 shots from the field and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe. Recently named the ECC Preseason Player of the Year, Filbert's milestone point came on a free throw at the 5:26 mark of the second quarter after she was fouled in the act of shooting a three-pointer. Filbert becomes the 25th member of Daemen's 1,000 point club, and the first to reach the plateau since Leah McDonell in the final game of the 2016-17 season.
  • Senior forward Caroline White (Fairport, N.Y.) tossed in a double-double, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds. It marked the sixth double-double of her career, and she nailed a career-high five three-pointers in the win. 
  • Junior forward Katie Titus (Penfield, N.Y.) overcame a slow start to finish with 13 points (11 in the second half) and five boards.
  • Paige Woodford drilled a team-high four three-pointers and totaled 14 points (all in the second half) to pace Mercyhurst.
  • Julia Buchman (12 points), Jayde Boyd (nine points) and Nicolette Arnold (nine points) also chipped in for the Lakers. Boyd came in averaging 16.4 points per game, but was held to just 2-for-9 shooting from the field. 


QUARTER-BY-QUARTER SUMMARY
First Quarter (Daemen 19, Mercyhurst 9) - An early three-pointer from freshman guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) erased Mercyhurst's only lead of the game (3-2) and ignited a 13-3 spurt that put the Wildcats in control. An offensive rebound and putback by Mickayla Ivy (Grand Rapids, Mich.) gave Daemen a 17-9 advantage before Filbert converted a pair of free throws to close the scoring in the period.

Second Quarter (Daemen 25, Mercyhurst 16) - The Lakers pulled within eight points (24-16) on a pair of Boyd free throws, but Paige's nifty inside feed to center Mary Foster (Elmira, N.Y.) sparked another Daemen run. The Wildcats' 12-3 spurt, which included Filbert's milestone free throw, was capped by Autumn Buchsenschutz's (Port Allegany, Pa.) three-pointer at the 4:09 mark which put Daemen ahead 36-19. The Wildcat advantage swelled to 20 points (42-22) on two Titus free throws late in the period, and the Wildcats took a 44-25 lead into halftime.

Third Quarter (Daemen 23, Mercyhurst 13) - Back-to-back three-pointers by Titus and Filbert prompted a Mercyhurst timeout just 1:11 into the period as Daemen's lead grew to 50-25. The Lakers never seriously challenged after that, and Daemen's lead swelled to as many as 29 points, including after an inside bucket by Ivy with 19 seconds left which sent the team to the fourth quarter with Daemen leading 67-38.

Fourth Quarter (Mercyhurst 26, Daemen 15) - White opened the fourth quarter scoring with a three-pointer, sending Daemen's lead to it's widest margin (70-38) before Mercyhurst was able to make things a bit more respectable. The Lakers made 9-of-16 shots from the field and 5-of-9 from downtown in the stanza.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

  • Both teams got great production off the bench (Mercyhurst 26 points, Daemen 25 points). For Daemen, Marina Maerkl (Binghamton, N.Y.) and Natalie Angeletti (Panama, N.Y.) were solid in reserve roles, scoring nine and eight points respectively. The 25 bench points were the most for Daemen since their reserves put up 29 points in a blowout win over Bloomfield in November of 2019. 
  • Daemen finished with 50% shooting for the game (29-for-58) while holding Mercyhurst to 38% (22-for-58). Both teams let it fly from three-point range with Daemen shooting 42% (11-for-26) and the Lakers shooting 38% (13-for-34).


GAME NOTES

  • Daemen is ranked No. 20 in the latest Division II Sports Information (D2SIDA) National Media Poll and No. 1 in the D2SIDA East Region Media Poll.
  • Mercyhurst is receiving votes in the D2SIDA National Media Poll and ranked No. 4 in the D2SIDA Atlantic Region Poll.
  • Daemen returns seven players, including incumbent starters Filbert, White and Titus, from their 2019-20 team that went 23-5 overall and earned the program's first NCAA tournament berth. 
  • Filbert has now totaled 1,010 points in 86 games. She passed both Erin Howarth (1,001 points) and Leah McDonell (1,005 points) on Daemen's all-time scoring list to rank 23rd in program history. 
  • Daemen has now held 23 of its last 29 opponents to 65 points or less and the Wildcats are 23-1 in those games.
 

NEXT JUMP BALL
Daemen returns to action next weekend with a home-and-home series against ECC newcomer D'Youville. The Wildcats visit the Saints on Friday, Jan. 22 before hosting them for a maitnee affair Sunday, Jan. 24.


Daemen College features the premier 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.

Support Daemen College's return to intercollegiate athletic competitions by making a contribution to the Game On Campaign and the Daemen Wildcats Gotta Play Fund. This comprehensive fundraising campaign was established to help offset the loss of valuable external revenue streams that directly support Daemen's 17 varsity programs. To learn more, visit daemenwildcats.com/gameon.

 


 
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