Game #3
Daemen Wildcats (2-0, 0-0 ECC) vs. Le Moyne Dolphins (2-0, 0-0 NE-10)
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 16
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: Amherst, N.Y. | Lumsden Gymnasium
Watch: via
ECC Network
Live Stats: via
daemenwildcats.com
HOME, SWEET HOME
The Daemen University women's basketball team will play in their home opener in a midweek matchup against longtime in-state rival Le Moyne on Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 5:30 PM in Lumsden Gymnasium. Daemen owns a 76-6 record at home over the last four seasons, and finished 10-2 in games played at Lumsden in 2021-22.
SOLID START
The Wildcats are coming off of back-to-back victories in the Redhawks Classic over the weekend, opening the season 2-0 for the third time since the start of the 2017-18 season. Daemen topped No. 22 Pace with a 52-45 win in the season opener on Friday night, and wrapped up the tournament with a 72-60 victory over Felician, leaving as the only undefeated team in the Redhawks Classic.
PAIGE-ING DOCTOR BUCKETS
Graduate student transfer
Paige Emborsky (Newfane, N.Y.) has made an immediate impact on the Wildcats this season. The 5-foot-6 former Niagara County Community College standout who spent the last two seasons playing Division I basketball at Abilene Christian University played 53 minutes in the first two games and leads the team with 31 points, averaging 15.5 a game. The guard put up a season-high 17 points against the nationally ranked Setters in the season opener on Friday, and led all Wildcats with 14-points against Felician. Emborsky shot 11-of-16 from the field, and tops the Wildcats from beyond the arc, banking 6-of-9 three's to shoot 67-percent.
M AND M DEFENSE
Senior
Marina Maerkl (Binghamton, N.Y.) and fifth-year
Mickayla Ivy (Grand Rapids, Mich.) have gotten out to a hot start this season. The upperclassmen rank second and third, respectively, in scoring, with Maerkl scoring 18 points through the first two games and Ivy putting up 14. 5-foot-10 Ivy leads the team in rebounds with 13 on the year to average a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game, and she pulled down a season-high 10 in the season opener against Pace. Maerkl has three rebounds in each of the games, snagging four offensive boards and two defensive rebounds so far.
REGIONALLY RANKED
After the first two games of the season, the Wildcats are ranked
second out of 10 teams in the East Region. Daemen continued their streak of being ranked in 35 consecutive NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) polls, a streak that goes all the way back to January 2019. The D2SIDA poll was released on Monday, with the Wildcats garnering 48 points and trailing only Bentley with 60. Chestnut Hill (43 pts), Le Moyne (43) and Jefferson (38) round out the top five. The remainder of the poll includes Southern Connecticut State (33), St. Thomas Aquinas (20), Pace (17), Southern New Hampshire (13) and Assumption (5). The D2SIDA East Region media poll is conducted by sports information professionals representing the East Coast Conference, Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference and Northeast-10 Conference.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will play host to Saint Michael's on Sunday in their second NE-10 game of the week. Tip-off is set for 11 AM at Lumsden Gymnasium.
SCOUTING THE LE MOYNE DOLPHINS
The Dolphins enter Wednesday night's matchup with a 2-0 record and are tied for third in the East Region in the D2SIDA poll. Second-year head coach
Mary Grimes has who made a splash in Le Moyne's exhibition game against Syracuse after taking the Division I program down to the very end before falling in a 73-70 loss. After Le Moyne lost their top-three scorers from last season's 17-8 team, this year they feature a relatively young team with seven freshmen and sophomores. Through the first two games, offensively the Dolphins are led by a pair of redshirts in sophomore forward
Haedyn Roberts with 36 points and freshman
Sydney Lusher with 34 points on the year. Senior
Lytoya Baker has scored 24 points on the season and leads the Dolphins with 25 rebounds including pulling down 11 offensive boards, while Roberts ranks second with 21. Le Moyne is coming off a pair of wins over Lake Erie and Post, outscoring their opponents by an average of 13.5 points per game.
HISTORY VS. LE MOYNE
All-Time Record: 9-2 Le Moyne
Home Record: 4-1 Le Moyne
Current Streak: Le Moyne won 5
Last Meeting: Le Moyne 70 Daemen 48 | Dec. 19, 2018 | Syracuse, N.Y.
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.
