Junior forward Katie Titus and Daemen women's basketball look to remain unbeaten in ECC play versus St. Thomas Aquinas this weekend.

Women's Basketball Wraps Up Regular Season Slate Hosting Spartans

Wildcats look for undefeated finish atop ECC standings

2/26/2021 10:30:00 AM

By: By Joe Kraus, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

GAME #11
#12 / #9 DAEMEN WILDCATS (9-1, 7-0 ECC) VS. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS SPARTANS (5-6, 5-3 ECC)
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27
LUMSDEN GYMNASIUM (AMHERST, N.Y.) – 12 PM
NO SPECTATORS PERMITTED DUE TO COVID-19

GAME #12
#12 / #9 DAEMEN WILDCATS (9-1, 7-0 ECC) VS. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS SPARTANS (5-6, 5-3 ECC)
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28
LUMSDEN GYMNASIUM (AMHERST, N.Y.) – 12 PM
NO SPECTATORS PERMITTED DUE TO COVID-19

FASTBREAK POINTS

1. The Wildcats wrap up the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 regular season when they host St. Thomas Aquinas. Daemen is coming off last weekend's road-trip to Westchester County where the Wildcats secured two wins against Mercy. Daemen enters with a 9-1 record for the first time in their NCAA era (2015 – present) as well as a perfect 7-0 mark in ECC play as they remain atop the league standings.

2. This weekend's tip-offs are the 16th and 17th meetings all-time between the Wildcats and the Spartans dating back to Dec. 3, 1993. This is the first meeting between the two teams since Daemen's 60-57 comeback victory on Feb. 14, 2020, where the Wildcats outscored the Spartans in the fourth quarter, 21-12. St. Thomas Aquinas has an 11-4 all-time record in the series.

3. The Wildcats enter at No. 9 in the D2SIDA national poll, their highest-ever ranking in the program's NCAA era. This is the seventh straight week the program has been ranked in this poll. Daemen also jumped up five spots to No. 12 in the WBCA Division II top 25 coaches' poll.

4. Behind a combined 32 first-half points from Caroline White and Katie Titus, the Wildcats completed the two-game sweep against Mercy, 79-45, on Feb. 21. Titus finished with 22 points on 8-of-21 shooting and drilled five three-pointers. White added 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting and 9 rebounds while teammate Mickayla Ivy chipped in 7 points and 12 rebounds. 10 different players scored for Daemen.

5. Daemen has cashed in on their ball-hawk mentality so far this season. Through the first eight contests, the Wildcats have averaged 19.5 points off turnovers, 8.4 steals per game and 5.1 blocks per game and have held their opponents to 32.9% shooting.

6. Daemen has held 32 of its last 38 opponents to 65 points or fewer, posting a 30-2 record in those contests.

7. Daemen has made at least 10 three-pointers in 11 of their last 26 games and canned a new season-high 14 in the team's 79-45 win against Mercy on Feb. 21. Through the first ten games this season, the Wildcats are averaging 8.4 three-pointers per game after they led the ECC last season (8.5).

8. Daemen's 86-54 victory versus Mercy on Feb. 20 had five players finish in double-figure scoring. Mickayla Ivy (17), Alahna Paige (13), Katie Titus (12), Caroline White (11) and Marina Maerkl (10) became the first quintet to accomplish this feat in program history since White, Titus, Tiara Filbert, Jordan Heinold and Ashli Jeune did so on Feb. 7, 2020 at Bridgeport.

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 Mercy 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.).

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 24 of their last 27 games dating back to last season and are 46-8 dating back to the 2018-19 season.

STAC SCOUTING REPORT

St. Thomas Aquinas returns one player with starting experience from last year's team that finished 21-7 overall and 13-3 in East Coast Conference play.
The Spartans are led by head coach Kim Lusk, who is in her 13th season with the program following a four-year stint coaching women's basketball at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. With the Spartans, Lusk has compiled a 215-144 record, appeared in back-to-back NCAA tournaments in 2018 and 2019, made seven ECC semifinal appearances and two trips to the ECC finals, including winning the title in 2018.
STAC's 13-player roster consists of seven returning players, six freshmen and zero transfers.
Junior guard Alexa Huertas leads the Spartans in points per game (13.6 ppg), assists per game (2.0 apg) and three-point shooting, shooting 22-of-62 (35.5%). Huertas is also shooting 51-of-138 (37%) overall from the floor, which is second-best on the team.
Junior guard Victoria Kurisko leads the team rebounding (6.3 rpg), and is second in scoring (7.8), shooting a team-best 26-of-67 (38.8%) from the floor.

SERIES HISTORY VS STAC
All-Time Series: STAC leads 11-4
At Neutral Site: 0-0
Current streak: Daemen won 1
Last meeting: Daemen 60, STAC 57 | February 14, 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
After being ranked No.1 in the D2SIDA East Region media poll for a program-best six straight weeks, the longest stretch in program history, Daemen is now under consideration for championship selection heading into the post-season. Daemen is ranked No. 9 in the D2SIDA national media poll this week and are nationally ranked for the seventh straight week. Also, this week, the Wildcats were ranked No. 12 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II top 25 coaches' poll, marking this the fourth straight week the team has been ranked in both Division II national polls. The Wildcats have 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 24 of their last 27 games and are 46-8 since Jan. 11, 2019.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Daemen has held 32 of its last 38 opponents to 65 points or less, posting a 30-2 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
Freshmen Natalie Angeletti and Alahna Paige have received ECC Rookie of the Week honors this season. Angeletti received the honor after helping Daemen sweep D'Youville in games played Jan. 22 and 24 and narrowly missed her first career double-double, totaling 9 points and 10 rebounds in the second matchup. Paige received the honor after helping Daemen secure wins against Roberts Wesleyan on Feb. 17 and in the first game of a two-game series at Mercy on Feb. 20. Daemen has now had seven players earn Rookie of the Week honors since the 2013-14 season when the Wildcats began ECC play.

NEXT JUMP BALL
Daemen will head to the postseason, beginning with the ECC Championship tournament which is slated for March 2-6 at campus sites. Official tournament seeds and matchups will be announced following Sunday's regular season finale. Daemen is the defending tournament champion.

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