Game #1
Daemen Wildcats (0-0, 0-0 ECC) vs. #22 Pace Setters (0-0, 0-0 NE-10) 
Date: Friday, November 11
Time: 7 PM
Location: Rochester, N.Y. | Voller Athletic Center
Watch: via ECC Network
Live Stats: via robertsredhawks.com

Game #2
Daemen Wildcats (0-0, 0-0 ECC) vs. Felician Golden Falcons (0-0, 0-0 CACC)
Date: Saturday, November 12
Time: 2 PM
Location: Rochester, N.Y. | Voller Athletic Center
Watch: via ECC Network
Live Stats: via robertsredhawks.com
 

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LET'S GET IT STARTED IN HERE
After two exhibition games against Division I opponents, the Daemen University women's basketball team finally opens up the 2022-23 season this weekend. The Wildcats make the short trek eastbound on I-10 to Rochester to play in the Redhawks Classic hosted by Roberts Wesleyan, where they will play a pair of games in the tournament. Daemen wastes no time jumping into the season, as they will face the #22 ranked Pace Setters on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7 PM in a rematch of the 2022 Division II East Region championship game. Pace ended the Wildcats' playoff run last season with a two-point heartbreaker in the Sweet 16 matchup. Daemen will then face the Felician Golden Falcons in the final game of the tournament on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 2 PM.  

EXHIBITION SLATE COMPLETE
The Wildcats played both exhibition games against Division I opponents to prepare for the 2022-23 season. Daemen headed up the road on Oct. 30 to take on the University at Buffalo in new UB head coach Becky Burke's first game with the Bulls. The Wildcats kept the game close but ultimately fell to UB 61-51, but it marked the closest score against UB in an exhibition game. Daemen then loaded up the busses and crossed three state lines on their way to Ann Arbor, Michigan where they would face the Division I powerhouse Michigan Wolverines on Saturday, Nov. 5. Playing in the historic Crisler Center against the Wolverines that advanced to the 2022 Division I Elite Eight, the Wildcats lost 87-32. The game marked the first time in program history that Daemen played Michigan. 

NEW LOOK CATS
After the graduation of two of the program's all-time greats in Katie Titus and Tiara Filbert, the 2022-23 Daemen basketball team looks different than it has in years past. The Wildcats return eight players from its' 2021-22 East Coast Conference championship team, including Ivy, who was named Third Team All-Conference and led the ECC in field goal percentage last season, and Matz who averaged 27 minutes per game and finished second on the team in three-point field goals made with 42 on the year. Junior guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) also returns after starting 25 of 26 games last year. The majority of the returners on this team did not see significant court time last season. Seven newcomers are on the roster, with three transfers and four freshmen. Junior guard and Buffalo native Gabby McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.) comes to the Wildcats after two very successful seasons at NJCAA power Niagara County Community College. McDuffie has made an immediate impact on the court already this season, and has played significant minutes in the first two exhibition games of the season. Graduate student Paige Emborsky (Newfane, N.Y.) spent her first two years at Niagara County Community College where she helped lead the Thunderwolves to the NJCAA Division II national tournament, then ended her undergraduate career at Abilene Christian University. 

HEAD COACH JENEPHER BANKER
Jenepher Banker, the 2021-22 ECC Co-Coach of the Year, embarks on her seventh season as the head women's basketball coach at Daemen in 2022-23. Banker was introduced in 2016 as the fourth head coach in the modern era of the program and has since led the Wildcats to a 100-55 overall record and a 70-26 mark in East Coast Conference play. The veteran mentor has presided over the program's resurgence in recent years, leading the Wildcats to three-straight ECC regular season championships (2020, 2021, 2022), two ECC tournament titles (2020, 2022), three NCAA tournament berths (2020 2021, 2022) and the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament East Region championship (2021). From early January of 2019 through the end of the 2021-22 season, Banker's Wildcats have gone 73-15. 

NEXT UP
The Wildcats continue their non-conference slate on Wednesday, Nov. 16 when they host Le Moyne in their home opener at Lumsden Gymnasium. Tipoff is set for 5:30 PM.
 

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SCOUTING THE PACE SETTERS
Pace is coming off a 2022 East Region title and the program's first NCAA Elite Eight appearance since 2001. The Setters finished the 2021-22 season with a 24-8 record, and the program's first-ever NE10 Southwest Division regular season championship. Pace's run through the East Region was improbable, with the Setters entering the tournament as the No. 7 seed and featured three close victories, averaging a 4.3 margin of victory in the Regional. The Setters upset No. 2 seed Chestnut Hill and No. 3 seed USciences before upending Daemen 67-65 in the East Region Championship game. Head coach Carrie Seymour returns for her 31st year at the helm of Pace, and returns the majority of the team after losing just three players to graduation from last season's successful team. Graduate students Lauren Hackett and Kelsey Quain give the team veteran leadership, while Shanice Sinclair, Katumina Mansaray, Tower Lorde and Victoria Dieguez will look to improve upon their impressive rookie campaigns. The Setters were picked fourth in the NE-10 preseason coaches poll.

HISTORY
All-Time Record: Pace 1-0
Neutral Record: Pace 1-0
Last Meeting: Pace 67, Daemen 65 | March 14, 2022, Manchester, NH 


SCOUTING THE FELICIAN GOLDEN FALCONS
The Golden Falcons enter the 2022-23 season after posting their highest victory total in eight years with their 12-15 overall record and 10-7 CACC record last year. Felician advanced to the CACC Tournament where they lost to Jefferson 62-34. The Golden Falcons return all but three players from last season, including the team's leading scorer in forward Briana Lee, who finished with 436 points last season and shot 45-percent from the field in the 2021-22 season. Graduate student Katelyn Andres led the team in minutes with 830 on the season, and finished second on the team in points with 304. Felician's roster is comprised of players from all over the globe, and this season added freshmen from Iceland and Spain to add to their locker room that features five different countries. 

HISTORY
All-Time Record: Daemen 3-0
Neutral Record: Daemen 2-0
Last Meeting: Daemen 72, Felician 50 | Nov. 13, 2021, Rochester, N.Y.
 

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Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 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 women's basketball program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenWBB.