GAME #15
NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - EAST REGIONAL SEMIFINALS
(#2 SEED) #16/#15 DAEMEN WILDCATS (12-2, 9-0 ECC) VS. (#3 SEED) GEORGIAN COURT LIONS (8-1, 7-0 CACC) OR (#6 SEED) CONCORDIA-NY CLIPPERS (6-5, 5-4 CACC)
SATURDAY, MARCH 13
LUMSDEN GYMNASIUM (AMHERST, N.Y.) – 6 PM
NO SPECTATORS PERMITTED DUE TO COVID-19


 
 















FASTBREAK POINTS
1. Daemen makes their NCAA tournament debut Saturday in the regional semifinals. The second-seeded Wildcats will face the winner of Friday's quarterfinal contest between third-seeded Georgian Court and sixth-seeded Concordia (N.Y.). Daemen enters tournament play with a 12-2 overall record and are 8-1 since the start of February.

---

2. Daemen's NCAA tournament debut comes exactly a year from what was to be the program's first-ever NCAA tournament game. After winning the 2020 ECC championship and being awarded the No. 7 seed in the East Regional, Daemen was set to face second-seeded Stonehill in the opening round of the NCAA tournament before it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

---

3. Last weekend, Daemen finished as the runner-up in the 2021 ECC tournament held at Lumsden Gymnasium. After defeating fourth-seeded Molloy (52-42) in a rematch of the 2020 title game, the Wildcats came up just short to long-time rival Roberts Wesleyan (59-53) in the tournament final. Daemen's Caroline White and Katie Titus were named to the all-tournament team. 

---

4. The Wildcats are currently ranked among the best teams in the country. The Wildcats enter the NCAA tournament at No. 16 in the D2SIDA national media poll and No. 15 in the WBCA Division II coaches' poll. These are the final national polls being released until after the conclusion of the NCAA tournament. 

---

5. Daemen has been among one of the best defensive teams in the country this season. They rank third in scoring defense and seventh in field goal percentage defense, allowing just 51.2 points per game on 32.5% shooting. The Wildcats have held seven of their last nine opponents to less than 50 points. Dating back to last season, the Wildcats are 33-3 when holding opponents to 65 points or less.

---

6.   Senior forward Caroline White has been among the most well-rounded players in the ECC this season. The ECC Player of the Year and All-ECC first team selection ranks among the ECC leaders in scoring, rebounding, three-point shooting and field goal percentage. White, who enters the tournament just 21 points shy of 1,000 for her career, is one of four Daemen players to earn All-ECC recognition this season, joining fellow first-teamers Katie Titus and Tiara Filbert and second-teamer Mickayla Ivy. 

---

7.  Junior forward Mickayla Ivy has really come on since early February. In the past nine games, Ivy has reached double figures four times and is contributing 11.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in that span. 

---

8.  Daemen has been without redshirt senior guard Tiara Filbert for the past six games. An All-ECC first team selection, Filbert is averaging 13.3 points per game this season, and earlier became the 25th player in program history to reach 1,000 points. 

---

9.  After a pair of wins against St. Thomas Aquinas Feb. 27-28, Daemen won their second straight ECC regular season title and finished with a 9-0 mark. Daemen finished unbeaten in conference play for the third time in program history and the first time since 2003-04.

---

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 27 of their last 31 games dating back to last season and are 49-9 dating back to the 2018-19 season.
 
 
#3 GEORGIAN COURT SCOUTING REPORT

• Georgian Court is making the first NCAA tournament appearance in program history after claiming the Central Athletic Collegiate Conference regular season title. The Lions enter the NCAA tournament with an 8-1 overall record and are coming off an 81-65 loss to Dominican in last weekend's CACC tournament final. The loss snapped GCU's 11-game winning streak that dated back to last season.
• The Lions are led by head coach Jasmina Perazic, a former All-American player at Maryland, who has led the program to its first winning season at the Division II level.
• Freshman guard Anyssa Fields took the CACC by storm this season, winning the league's Player and Defensive Player of the Year honors. She leads CACC in field goals (68-138), total rebounds (101), points (170), and points per game (18.9).
• The Lions are also getting double-figure scoring from Tian Addison (12.6 ppg) and Savawn Hughes (10.8 ppg).
• The Lions are blocking 5.3 shots per game, seventh-best in Division II. They are also grabbing 45.1 rebounds per game (11th in Division II) and swiping 10.1 steals per game.

 
SERIES HISTORY VS GEORGIAN COURT
All-Time Series: GCU 1-0
At Neutral Site: GCU 1-0
Current Streak: GCU W1
Last Meeting: Georgian Court 66, Daemen 37 | December 4, 1993 | Sparkill, NY 
 
#6 CONCORDIA-NY SCOUTING REPORT

• Concordia is making the first NCAA tournament appearance in program history, and it comes in the program's final season. Concordia officials announced in late January that the school will shut its doors at the completion of the 2020-21 academic year.
• The Clippers are led by seventh-year head coach Christie Tomasino Conforti who has led the program to its first winning season since 1986-87. The Clippers enter NCAA tournament play with a 6-5 overall record after advancing to the semifinal round of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference tournament where they suffered a 76-57 loss to Georgian Court – their first NCAA tournament opponent.
• Sophomore guard Marigona Bacaliu was named to the All-CACC team and is averaging a team-high 15.2 points per game game. Bacaliu sank a team-best 23 three-pointers this season, and scored a season-high 35 points in Concordia's season-opening 68-65 win over Bloomfield.
• Additional production is coming from senior guard Shanice Graves (9.2 ppg), junior guard Saundra Cleckley (7.8 ppg) and sophomore forward Jaayden Lafontant (7.7 ppg).

 
SERIES HISTORY VS CONCORDIA-NY
All-Time Series: Daemen 1-0
At Neutral Site: Daemen 1-0
Current Streak: Daemen W1
Last Meeting: Daemen 70, Concordia-NY 47 | November 16, 2019 | Rochester, 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 enters the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 16 in the D2SIDA national media poll and are nationally ranked for the ninth straight week. Also this week, the Wildcats are at No. 15 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II top 25 coaches' poll, marking this the sixth straight week the team has been ranked in both Division II national polls. These are the final national polls being released until after the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament.

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 27 of their last 31 games and are 49-8 since Jan. 11, 2019.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Daemen has held 36 of its last 42 opponents to 65 points or less, posting a 33-3 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 twice 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 and again after scoring a career-high 28 points against St. Thomas Aquinas on Feb. 28. 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
With a win Saturday, Daemen would advance to the East Regional finals on Monday, March 15 at Lumsden Gymnasium. Tip-off is set for 6 PM.