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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
banker wbb vs rwc
Head coach Jenepher Banker and Daemen women's basketball moved to 6-0 in ECC play with a Friday night win at St. Thomas Aquinas.
64
Winner Daemen DAEW 8-3, 6-0 ECC
48
St. Thomas Aquinas STACW 5-10, 4-2 ECC
Winner
Daemen DAEW
8-3, 6-0 ECC
64
Final
48
St. Thomas Aquinas STACW
5-10, 4-2 ECC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Daemen DAEW 15 19 13 17 64
St. Thomas Aquinas STACW 10 16 9 13 48

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

Wildcats Remain Unbeaten In ECC Play, Win Sixth Straight In Road Battle With STAC, 64-48

First victory at Aquinas Hall in program history in nearly six years

SPARKILL, N.Y. – They came, they saw, and – thanks to key stretches late in the second half – the Daemen College women's basketball team conquered once again Friday night.

Behind a pair of double-figure scorers – 21 points from senior Katie Titus (Penfield, N.Y.) and 11 points from redshirt senior Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.) – and quality contributions from fellow veteran play-makers, the regionally-ranked Wildcats recorded a sixth consecutive win following a 64-48 victory against St. Thomas Aquinas in an East Coast Conference matchup held at Aquinas Hall.

With the victory, Daemen has won eight of its last 10 games and improved to 8-3 overall and 6-0 in East Coast Conference play. Daemen entered the contest ranked – for a fifth consecutive week – in the Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region poll. The victory also marked Daemen's 15th consecutive regular season victory in ECC play, a stretch dating back to the team's 9-0 finish against conference opponents in what was an abbreviated 2020-21 campaign due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With the loss, the Spartans, who entered the contest on a four-game winning streak, dropped to 5-10 overall and 4-2 in league play.

Tonight's victory also marked just the second time Daemen defeated St. Thomas Aquinas at Aquinas Hall in program history. The first victory came in a 79-73 overtime thriller on February 11, 2016.

After St. Thomas Aquinas erased an early four-point deficit thanks to a three-point conversion (4-4 7:47), the Wildcats answered with an 8-0 run over a five-minute span, capped off by a Titus three-point connection for a 12-4 lead with just over three minutes left in the first quarter. The Spartans responded with back-to-back jumpers from the freshmen duo of Sarah Ericson and Erin Leary to cut the deficit to four points before Titus' second three-point conversion of the frame gave Daemen a 15-7 lead with under a minute remaining. A late basket from Angelique Holguin put the Spartans within five at the end of the first quarter (15-10.)

The Spartans brought the game to within one point (15-14) in the early stages of the second quarter before the Wildcats went on a 7-3 run, thanks to two three-pointers from sophomore guard Kaytlyn Matz (Johnsburg, Ill.) and the first in the paint contribution from junior forward Marina Maerkl (Binghamton, N.Y.) to build a 25-17 lead with just over four-and-a-half minutes left in the half. STAC would not go away, cutting into the deficit again near the two-minute warning (25-21) before Maerkl's put-back off a missed shot and another Titus three-pointer on consecutive possessions gave Daemen a nine-point lead with 1:08 left before the break (30-21.) Daemen briefly had an 11-point lead in the final seconds before STAC's Julia Reggio converted the old-fashioned three-point play with 0.2 seconds remaining in regulation. Daemen had a 34-26 lead at the break.

STAC came out of the locker room on a 7-2 run through the first 5:11 of the third quarter to trim Daemen's lead to three points (36-33) before sophomore Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) and a pair of free-throws from Maerkl ballooned the visitors' margin to nine (42-33) with 2:22 left. Another 8-2 run from Daemen, including a three-pointer from Filbert, gave Daemen a 47-35 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Baskets from Karolina Jaruseviciute and another score from Reggio on back-to-back possesions cut Daemen's lead down to 10 points again (51-41) with under six minutes to play. But Matz had the shot of the night on the next possession, converting a three-pointer from well beyond the arc to give Daemen a 13-point lead (54-41) with 5:12 left in regulation. Both teams went into a scoring drought for nearly three minutes before the Spartans had one last push to make the score 56-46 with 1:02 left.

The Wildcats secured the victory with six straight free-throws before the clock expired.

IMPACT PLAYERS
  • In 32 minutes of game action, Titus connected on 6-of-17 shots overall, including 5-of-9 from the floor and converted her trio of three-point shots in the first half alone. Titus also recorded a season-high four blocks – one shy of her career-high five block performance against the Spartans on Feb. 14, 2020. With the 21-point outing, Titus, who also went 6-of-6 at the free-throw line tonight, has now finished in double-figure scoring 10 times in the 2021-22 campaign and in each of Daemen's last seven contests.
  • In 27 minutes played, Filbert shot 3-of-7 from the floor and had seven rebounds, her highest output in this category since recording nine boards versus Bridgeport on Dec. 12.
  • Matz made all three of her field goals from three-point range in the victory, two of which came in the first half alone. In 34 minutes played, Matz also finished with a team-high four assists and tied with Paige for the team lead in rebounds (8.)  
  • Paige finished with nine points and three assists in a game-high 36 minutes of game action.
  • Ivy finished with five points, six rebounds and two blocks.
  • In 12 minutes of play, Maerkl finished with all nine of Daemen's points off the bench along with four rebounds. She finished one point shy of a career-high mark she set against Mercy on Feb. 20, 2021.
  • After scoring a career-high 18 points versus Queens on Jan. 16, freshman Sydney Hvizdzak (Little Valley, N.Y.) was held scoreless but recorded three assists in 11 minutes off the bench.
  • Freshman guard Sarah Ericson led the Spartans in scoring (15 points) and assists (2) Friday night while sophomore guard Julia Reggio added eight points and tied with freshman forward Erin Leary in rebounds (6.) Leary also had six points and sophomore forward Angelique Holguin contributed seven points.
GAME NOTES
  • Tonight marked the 18th all-time meeting between Daemen and St. Thomas Aquinas. STAC now leads the series, 11-7, and Daemen is now 2-7 when playing in Sparkill, N.Y.
  • In the victory, the Wildcats went 19-of-59 (32.2%) from the field, their lowest out-put in conference play thus far (six games.) Daemen also finished 8-of-24 (33.3%) from behind the arc against the Spartans, knocking down five three-pointers in the first half alone. Daemen had made 10 or more three-pointers in four of their last five games entering Friday.
  • Daemen also finished with 15 assists Friday and have now recorded double-figure assists in nine contests this season, including in eight consecutive contests. Daemen registered 23 assists in their victory this past Sunday against Queens.
  • Daemen also finished 18-of-22 from the free-throw line (81.8%.) This marked only the fourth time this season where Daemen appeared at the charity stripe at least 20 times in a single contest and the third time in the last five games.
  • St. Thomas Aquinas shot 17-of-63 (27%) from the floor and just 1-of-12 (8.3%) from three-point land. Daemen is now 7-3 this season when an opponent shoots below 50 percent from the floor. The Spartans, however, shot 13-of-18 (72.2%) from the free-throw line in tonight's loss.
  • While the Spartans had more bench production (17-9), it was the Wildcats who held the advantage in points off turnovers (12-6), points in the paint (26-20) and second-chance scoring (10-4.) The visiting Wildcats also out-rebounded the Spartans, 38-29, but posted 16 turnovers.
  • Daemen has held 46 of its last 55 opponents to 65 points or less, posting a 42-4 record in those games.
  • Tonight marked the 104th game of Filbert's career and remains in 14th place in career scoring with 1,213 points along with 489 rebounds and 291 assists.
  • Titus became the 27th member of Daemen's 1,000-Point Club during a win over Angelo State University earlier this year and has now totaled 1,172 points (16th all-time) along with 673 rebounds and 142 blocks in 84 career games. She is just the fourth player in program history to reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks.
  • Daemen is now 59-13 in their last 72 games, a span that dates back to mid January of 2019.
NEXT JUMP BALL
The Wildcats continue their downstate road trip when they visit fellow unbeaten opponent Mercy College in an East Coast Conference matchup on Sunday, Jan. 23.
 

Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 18 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.

Follow the Daemen College women's basketball program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenWBB.


 
 
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