GAME #9
#17 / #13 DAEMEN WILDCATS (7-1, 5-0 ECC) VS. MERCY MAVERICKS (0-3, 0-3 ECC)
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20
VICTORY GYM (DOBBS FERRY, N.Y.) – 1 PM
NO SPECTATORS PERMITTED DUE TO COVID-19
 
GAME #10
#17 / #13 DAEMEN WILDCATS (7-1, 5-0 ECC) VS. MERCY MAVERICKS (0-3, 0-3 ECC)
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21
VICTORY GYM (DOBBS FERRY, N.Y.) – 1 PM
NO SPECTATORS PERMITTED DUE TO COVID-19
 
FASTBREAK POINTS

1. The Wildcats continue their push towards the postseason with a downstate trip to visit Mercy for a two-game series in Dobbs Ferry. This comes after Daemen completed the season sweep against rival Roberts Wesleyan in a 58-42 victory on Feb. 17. Daemen enters with a 7-1 record for the first time in their NCAA era (2015 – present) and their best start since the 2012-13 season. Daemen enters the weekend 5-0 in conference play to stay atop of the ECC standings. 

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2. This weekend's tip-offs are the only two meetings of the season between the Wildcats and the Mavericks. Daemen has a 12-2 all-time record against Mercy and are winners in the last nine meetings. Mercy is looking for their first win in this series this weekend since a 70-69 nail-biter at Lumsden Gymnasium on Jan. 9, 2016. 

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3. The Wildcats enter at No. 13 in the D2SIDA national poll, staying in their highest-ever ranking for the third time in the past four weeks. This is the sixth straight week the program has been ranked in this poll. Daemen also jumped up two spots to No. 17 in the WBCA Division II top 25 coaches' poll - the third released by the WBCA this season. 

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4. With her 13-point outing in Daemen's victory against Roberts Wesleyan on Feb. 17, redshirt guard Tiara Filbert passed Monica Mihalics '01 for 20^th all-time in scoring in program history. Through 93 career games, Filbert has scored 1,096 points. Filbert reached the 1,000-point plateau for her career earlier in this season in Daemen's season-opening win versus Mercyhurst on Jan. 16.

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5. Daemen has cashed in on their ball-hawk mentality so far this season. Through the first eight contests, the Wildcats have averaged 19.3 points off turnovers, 8.0 steals per game and 4.9 blocks per game and have held their opponents to 33.1% shooting. 

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6. Daemen has held 30 of its last 36 opponents to 65 points or fewer, posting a 28-2 record in those contests. 

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7. Daemen has made at least 10 three-pointers in 10 of their last 24 games and canned a season-high 11 in three contests against Mercyhurst, D'Youville and Gannon. Through the first eight games this season, the Wildcats are averaging 8.0 three-pointers per game after they led the ECC last season (8.5). 

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8. Additional milestones were set in Daemen's Feb. 17 win versus the Redhawks. With her nine rebounds along with nine points, five steals and three blocks, junior forward Katie Titus now has over 500 rebounds in her career. In 64 career games, she has totaled 821 points and 503 rebounds. Senior Caroline White added seven points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals. She enters the weekend just three rebounds shy of 500 for her career and 10 points shy of 900 career points. 

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9. Daemen's victory against D'Youville on Jan. 24 was the first time Daemen scored 90 or more points in a game since a 90-48 victory versus this same Mercy College program on March 1, 2019. Daemen also established single game records for rebounds (66), assists (25) and victory margin (53) against East Coast Conference opponents and in the NCAA era (2015 – present.). 

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10. Daemen is coming off a 23-5 campaign that resulted in the program's first ECC championship and NCAA tournament berth. The Wildcats have won 22 of their last 25 games dating back to last season and are 44-8 dating back to the 2018-19 season.
 
 
MERCY SCOUTING REPORT

• Mercy returns four players with starting experience from last year's team that finished 8-19 overall and 2-14 in East Coast Conference play.
• The Mavericks are led by head coach Scott Lagas, who is in his 3rd season with the program following an eight-year stint coaching varsity girls basketball at Archbishop Molloy High School, compiling a 130-65 record and finishing in the top four in the CHSAA six out of eight years. Prior to this, Lagas was a six-year assistant coach at LIU Post under coach Deidre Moore.
• Mercy's 11-player roster consists of six returning players, three freshmen and two transfers.
• Sophomore Katie Wall leads the team in points per game (10.3), field goals made (10-of-28), made three-pointers (5-of-15) and assists per game (2.7) through the first three games.
• Junior Taysha Bender is second on the team in scoring and assists, averaging 6.7 points per game and 2.0 assists per game.
• Sophomore Brianna Lee is averaging a team-best 6.7 rebounds per game.

 
SERIES HISTORY VS MERCY
All-Time Series: Daemen leads 12-2
At Neutral Site: 0-0
Current streak: Daemen won 9
Last meeting: Daemen 79, Mercy 60 | February 16, 2020 | at Amherst, N.Y.
 
DAEMEN QUICK FACTS
Daemen returns 11 players overall, including seven letter-winners and three starters, from last year's team that finished 23-5 overall and shared the ECC regular season title (13-3) before defeating third-seeded New York Tech and fourth-seeded Molloy to capture the program's first-ever ECC Tournament crown. Daemen enters the 2020-2021 season as the favorite in the ECC. The defending champion Wildcats were picked first in the ECC preseason poll for the first time since joining the league in 2013.

HELLO, MY NAME IS…
Daemen earned its first-ever berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament last season. By comparison, the other seven teams that qualified from the East Region had made a combined 67 appearances. Due to COVID-19 protocols, the tournament was cancelled.

POLL POSITION
Daemen is ranked No. 1 in the D2SIDA East Region media poll and No. 13 in the D2SIDA national media poll this week. It marks the sixth straight week in the program's NCAA era that Daemen has occupied the No. 1 ranking in the region and been nationally ranked. This week, the Wildcats jumped up two spots to No. 17 on the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II top 25 coaches' poll released this season, marking this the third time the program has been ranked in both Division II national polls. The Wildcats have now been ranked in 21 successive D2SIDA regional polls, a span that dates back to January 2018.

HISTORIC START
The Wildcats won 21 of their first 24 games last season, which ranks as the best start of their NCAA era 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 last year, which is a new program record for most consecutive wins during the program's NCAA era. 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 made its third straight appearance in the ECC Championship in 2020, but did not have a win in the tournament until posting victories over New York Tech (76-56) and Molloy (68-56) to claim its first-ever ECC Tournament title.
  
20/20
Last year, Daemen 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 got the long-awaited 2020-21 season underway Jan. 16 with an impressive 82-64 win over regionally ranked Mercyhurst, ending a 314-day gap between contests due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and have won seven of their first eight contests to start their new campaign. The Wildcats have won 22 of their last 25 games and are 44-8 since Jan. 11, 2019.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Daemen has held 30 of its last 36 opponents to 65 points or less, posting a 28-2 record in those games. In 2019-20, Daemen collected 256 steals – the team's most since 355 in 2012-13 – and finished the season ranked 13th in the country for scoring defense, allowing just 55.0 points per game.

LONG RANGE THREATS
Last season, Daemen established a new program record for three-pointers made (238) and attempted (752) in a season, besting the previous standards of 236-693 set in 2009-10. Daemen ranked first among ECC teams in three-pointers made per game (8.5) and three-pointers attempted per game (26.9). The Wildcats also ranked third in three-point field goal percentage (.316). All five of Daemen's starters made at least 29 three-pointers on the year. The Wildcats made a program-record 20 three-pointers in an 89-62 win over Queens on Jan. 10, 2020.

SEASON OPENERS
Daemen's 82-64 win over Mercyhurst snapped a two-game slide in season openers, giving them their first 1-0 start since the 2017-18 season when they defeated American International. Daemen is 24-10 in season openers during the program's modern era (1986-present).

PROTECT THIS HOUSE
With their 65-56 loss hosting Gannon on Jan. 31, Daemen's home-court winning streak was snapped at 20 straight games dating back to the 2018-19 season. This ranked the longest active home winning streak among all East Region teams at the time and was one of the top 10 active streaks among all Division II teams. Daemen went 9-0 at home during the 2019-20 season – the program's first unbeaten home campaign since going 13-0 in 2007-08.

BACK IN THE FOLD
No strangers to consistent play, redshirt senior Tiara Filbert and junior Katie Titus top the list of returning players after once again earning all-conference honors in 2019-20. As a redshirt junior, Filbert earned first-team All-ECC recognition after averaging team-highs in points (14.4) and assists (3.7). Titus continued to dominate in the ECC in her sophomore campaign. The second-team All-ECC selection averaged 13.1 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds per game along with a team-high eight double-doubles. Senior Caroline White ranked third for Daemen in points (12.9) and second in rebounds (7.0) and served as a two-way player en route to the first All-ECC selection of her career. Fellow senior Autumn Buchsenschutz also returns as a key player this season. Junior Mickayla Ivy and sophomore Marina Maerkl also return after being regular rotation players last season.

FRESH FACES
The 2020-21 roster features several newcomers, including Division I transfer Mary Foster (New Hampshire) and freshmen Natalie Angeletti, Alahna Paige and Kaytlyn Matz. Foster spent two seasons at UNH where she appeared in 20 games. As a freshman, the Elmira native averaged 1.4 rebounds in 7.2 minutes. Angeletti won four Section VI Class D championships in five seasons at Panama. In 2020, the Panthers went 20-2 and finished No. 2 in the state poll. Three NYS Class D Final Fours and consecutive state title games (2016-2017) later, the 2020 NYS Class D Player of the Year is their all-time scorer (1,751 points) while also topping 1,000 rebounds. A four-year letter-winner at Irondequoit, Paige scored 28.6 points per game as a senior, was the All-Greater Rochester Co-Player of the Year and Class A All-State first team after leading the Eagles to a 2020 Section VI Class A championship appearance. She is their all-time scorer at Irondequoit with over 1,000 points. A four-year varsity player at Carmel Catholic, Matz won three regional championships and made Sweet 16 and Elite 8 appearances in the Illinois state playoffs. Team MVP as a senior, Matz was honorable mention all-conference and made the Lake County All-Area team.

HEY ROOKIE
Freshman forward Natalie Angeletti was named the ECC Rookie of the Week after helping Daemen sweep D'Youville in games played Jan. 22 and 24. Angeletti narrowly missed her first career double-double, totaling 9 points and 10 rebounds in the second matchup. She is the sixth Daemen player to earn Rookie of the Week honors since the 2013-14 season when the Wildcats began ECC play.

NEXT JUMP BALL
Daemen returns to Main Street on Feb. 27-28 for their final homestand of the regular season versus St. Thomas Aquinas. Both games are set to tip-off at 12 PM and will be streamed on the ECC Network.