Jay LaPrete

Women's Basketball Heads To Texas For Lady Chap Classic

Wildcats to face Angelo State and defending national champion Lubbock Christian

11/18/2021 11:00:00 AM

LADY CHAP CLASSIC
Nov. 19-20 | Rip Griffin Center | Lubbock, Texas
Watch - Lone Star Digital Network (Both Games)
Game Notes (PDF)
Tickets

Friday, Nov. 19 - 4:30 PM (CST)
#20 Daemen (1-1, 0-0 ECC) vs. Angelo State (0-2, 0-0 LSC)
Live Stats

Saturday, Nov. 20 - 8:00 PM (CST)
#20 Daemen vs. #1/#10 Lubbock Christian (4-1, 0-0 LSC)
Live Stats

JUMP BALL
Daemen continues their 2021-22 season this weekend with two games at the Lady Chap Classic hosted by Lubbock Christian. Daemen will face Angelo State Friday night for the first time in program history. Then, Daemen will close the tournament Saturday night by facing host Lubbock Christian – a rematch of Daemen's first Elite Eight appearance in program history. The Lady Chaps are the defending national champions and opened the season ranked No. 1 both Division II national polls.

A MAGICAL RUN
The Wildcats earned their second consecutive NCAA tournament berth and captured their first regional title last March. After entering the tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East Regional, the Wildcats ran to a 73-54 win over third-seeded Georgian Court in the regional semifinals, marking the program's first-ever NCAA tournament victory. The Wildcats followed up with a 58-40 defeat of fifth-seeded Roberts Wesleyan in the regional final, avenging a loss just nine days prior in the ECC Championship final. Katie Titus was named the Most Outstanding Player of the East Regional after netting 22 points to go with seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals in the regional final. The postseason run came to an end just over a week later in Columbus, Ohio where the Wildcats suffered a 66-49 loss in the Elite Eight to top-seeded and eventual national champion Lubbock Christian.

RELOADED
Daemen is set to return 13 players, including four starters, from their regional championship team – players responsible for 78% of scoring, 81% of rebounds and 85% of their assists from a season ago. Among the returners is senior forward Katie Titus who was recently named the ECC Preseason Player of the Year. A 6-foot forward, Titus produced a career-high 14.8 points per game last season. She led the ECC in three-point field goals (48) and blocks (40) while also ranking second in rebounding (8.1 rpg) and third in scoring en route to earning honorable mention All-American honors. Redshirt senior guard Tiara Filbert - the 2020-21 ECC Preseason Player of the Year - is also set to return after being limited to just eight games by an injury last season. A three-time All-ECC selection, Filbert enters her final collegiate season with 1,096 points in 93 games played. Senior forward Mickayla Ivy (9.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and sophomore guard Alahna Paige (2020-21 ECC Rookie of the Year) also return.

BANK ON IT
Jenepher Banker returns for her sixth season on the Daemen bench and her 11th overall as a collegiate head coach. The veteran mentor has led Daemen to a 79-51 record since taking the reins in 2016, with 56 of her victories coming over the past four seasons. The Wildcats' success under Banker includes a 23-win season in 2019-20 (a benchmark for wins during the program's NCAA Division II era), back-to-back regular season conference titles, the program's first ECC tournament championship, a pair of NCAA tournament berths and the 2021 regional title. She was named the ECC Coach of the Year after leading the Wildcats to an unbeaten run through conference play. Including her five seasons as the head coach at Penn State Behrend, Banker enters the season just five wins shy of 150 for her career.

IN THE POLLS
For the first time in the program's NCAA Division II era (2015-present), the Wildcats are nationally ranked to start the season. Daemen was ranked 20th in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll and eighth in the Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) Preseason Media Poll. The Wildcats ended the 2020-21 season ranked eighth in both polls - the first time they've finished a season in the national rankings.

MILESTONE CHASE
Senior forward Katie Titus opened the season needing just 42 points to become the 27th member of Daemen's 1,000-point club. As of November 18, in 75 career games, Titus has made 67 starts and totaled 998 points, 595 rebounds and 129 blocked shots. A three-time All-ECC selection, Titus is also bidding to become just the fourth player in program history to have 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks in a career.

HIGH ECC-XPECTATIONS
For the second straight season, Daemen has been selected as the preseason favorite to win the ECC. The Wildcats were the near unanimous choice atop the ECC Preseason Coaches Poll, garnering nine of the 10 first-place votes and 97 points. The Wildcats posted a 9-0 ECC record last season - the program's first unbeaten conference season since 2003-04 - and hold a 37-6 conference mark over the past three seasons.

SWEET CAROLINE
The biggest missing piece from last season is forward Caroline White who was lost to graduation last spring. White earned ECC Player of the Year honors last season after averaging 15.2 points (second in ECC) and 8.5 rebounds (first in ECC) per game.

T IT UP
Daemen will regain the services of redshirt senior guard Tiara Filbert to start the 2021-22 season. A three-time All-ECC selection, Filbert missed the final nine games last season with an injury. Entering the season, she has appeared in 93 games in her career, averaging 11.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. In Daemen's 2020-21 season opener, she became the 25th member of the program's 1,000 Point Club. Filbert currently ranks 20th in program history with 1,096 career points.

BREAKOUT SEASON
Senior forward Mickayla Ivy will look to take her game to another level after experiencing a breakout campaign in 2020-21. After averaging 2.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in her first two seasons, Ivy emerged as a consistent performer at both ends of the floor last season. She started all 17 contests and averaged 9.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while shooting 50% from the field. Her contributions were recognized by the ECC coaches who voted her onto the All-ECC Second Team.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Daemen has held 39 of its last 47 opponents to 65 points or less, posting a 36-3 record in those games. The Wildcats were among the best defensive teams in the country in 2020-21, ranking third nationally in both field goal percentage defense (.325) and scoring defense (51.6).

SUSTAINED SUCCESS
Daemen has posted a 52-11 record in their last 63 games, a span that dates back to mid-January of 2019. The Wildcats have won 11 of their 15 regular season, non-conference games in that time.

FRESH FACES
Daemen welcomes just two newcomers to the roster this season. Junior guard Sarah Cloutier is a transfer from NAIA affiliate Southeastern where she appeared in 38 games over two seasons while helping the Fire post a 53-6 record. Guard Sydney Hvizdzak is the lone freshmen on Daemen's roster. She comes to the Wildcats after earning All-Western New York honors last winter when she averaged 26.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per game while leading Randolph to the Section VI Class C title game. Hvizdzak is one of only 15 women in Section VI history to surpass 2,000 career points.

TUNING UP
Daemen got a dress rehearsal opportunity as they met Division I Buffalo in an exhibition contest at Alumni Arena. The highly touted Bulls, who are picked to win the MAC tournament this season, scored a 98-43 win in the teams' third exhibition matchup since 2010. Kaytlyn Matz (11 points) and Mickayla Ivy (10 points, five rebounds) led the Wildcats.

SEASON OPENING SPLIT
Daemen opened the season by splitting two games at the Redhawks Classic hosted by Roberts Wesleyan. In a meeting of the last two East Region champions, Daemen held a four-point lead with under five minutes to play before falling 75-70 to Saint Anselm. The Wildcats rebounded with a 72-50 trouncing of Felician the following day. Katie Titus notched double-doubles in both contests and earned ECC Player of the Week honors. The senior forward netted 24 points in the Wildcats' defeat of Felician, and has scored 10+ points in 50 of 75 career games.

SCOUTING ANGELO STATE
The Angelo State Belles are members of the Lone Star Conference and are led by first-year head coach Alesha Ellis. Ellis was hired as the new coach on June 4th following an eight-year stint with NAIA institution Wayland Baptist, where she led the Flying Queens to the NAIA Tournament all eight seasons, compiling a winning percentage of .784 and 189 career wins. Ellis led the Flying Queens to a program-best 31 wins in the 2019-20 season and was Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) Coach of the Year four times. Only two players (Sawyer Lloyd, Samantha Rocha) return from the Belles' 2019-20 team that finished 18-10 overall and qualified for an NCAA Tournament berth before the postseason was cancelled due to the early stages of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Angelo State did complete an abbreviated season this past winter, finishing 1-13 overall.

Angelo State returns five players from last season's team, including their two top scorers in sophomore guard Sawyer Lloyd and freshman guard Madeline Stephens. Named to the Lone Star All-Conference second team, Lloyd averaged a team-high 14.6 points per game and led the team in assists (45) and steals (38). Stephens was second in points per game (12.8) and led in rebounds per game (8.9) and total blocks (19).

Seven true freshmen and five transfers, including former Wayland Baptist players Blakely Gerber, Payton Brown and Tayjanna McGhee-Pleasant, round out the roster.

The Rambelles were picked fourth in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll, behind only Lubbock Christian, West Texas A&M and Texas A&M-Commerce.

SERIES HISTORY VS. ANGELO STATE
All-Time Series: 0-0
At Neutral Site: 0-0
Current Streak: N/A
Last Meeting: N/A

SCOUTING LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN
The Lubbock Christian Lady Chaparrals are members of the Lone Star Conference and are led by veteran coach Steve Gomez. Now in his 18th season with the program, Gomez has led the Lady Chaps to 436 wins and, most recently, won the NCAA Division II National Championship this past spring in Columbus, Ohio. Gomez and LCU have won three national championships (2016, 2019, 2021), four South Central Region titles, and is the first Division II program to post multiple undefeated seasons. LCU returns 11 players, including three starters (Ashton Duncan, Juliana Robertson, Allie Schulte) from the Lady Chaps' 2020-21 team that finished 23-0 overall.

Named the Elite Eight Most Outstanding Player, graduate student and guard Allie Schulte was also a member of the LSC's All-Conference (First Team) and All-Defensive Team, averaging team-highs in points per game (15.1), assists per game (3.6), steals per game (2.9) and shot nearly 58% from the field.

Graduate student and guard Ashton Duncan was a Second Team All-LSC selection last season and averaged 11.7 points per game. Her 202 career-three pointers moves her into the top five in program history in career three-pointers. Graduate student forward Juliana Robertson has appeared in 110 games in her career thus far and is averaging a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game in 2021-22.

The Lady Chaps were picked first overall in both the NABC and Lone Star Conference preseason polls.

SERIES HISTORY VS. LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN
All-Time Series: 0-1
At Lubbock Christian: 0-0
Current Streak: Lost 1
Last Meeting: Lubbock Christian 66, Daemen 49 | March 23, 2021 | at Columbus, Ohio | NCAA Tournament Elite Eight

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