SPARKILL, NY — The Daemen University women's basketball team experienced their first loss of the season in dramatic fashion, falling to regionally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas 66-65 in overtime. The Wildcats move to 6-1 overall and 2-1 in ECC on the season, the Spartans move to 7-2 and 2-1 in conference play.
Graduate transfer guard Paige Emborsky (Newfane, N.Y.) finished with a team-high 14 points, shooting 38-percent (5-of-13) from the field and 40-percent from beyond the arc (4-of-10).
The Wildcats shot 34-percent from the field (25-of-73) and 33-percent from three (9-of-27), as well as 35-percent from the free throw line (6-of-17). Daemen out-rebounded St. Thomas Aquinas 50 to 39, including pulling down an impressive 19 offensive boards compared to just five for the Spartans.
Daemen plays the second of four straight road games when they travel to take on Mercy on Sunday, Dec. 11 at 12 p.m.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Junior guard Gabby McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.) totaled 11 points, banking both free throws she shot today, pulling down four rebounds and adding a team-high five assists.
- Junior guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) finished with 10 points, shooting 30-percent from the field (3-of-10) and 60-percent from beyond the three point line (3-of-5). She added three rebounds.
- Three Wildcats totaled six rebounds in the game. Kaytlyn Matz (Johnsburg, Ill.), Natalie Angeletti (Panama, N.Y.) and Julia Hauer (Binghampton, N.Y.) accounted for 18 of Daemen's 50 rebounds in the game.
- Freshman guard Shyla Montgomery (Brockton, Mass.) shot 50-percent from the field (3-of-6) and from beyond the arc (1-of-2) for seven total points.
GAME NOTES
- STAC led by as much as 18-9 in the first quarter
- Back-to-back layups by Matz and McDuffie made it a two-point game at the end of the first with the Spartans leading 18-16
- McDuffie accounted for six of Daemen's 16 first quarter points
- The Wildcats trailed after both the first and second quarters, and were down 34-26 at the half.
- Daemen outscored St. Thomas Aquinas 20-12 in the third
- The Wildcats held a four-point lead in the final two minutes of the game, but two Daemen fouls led to STAC banking all four free throws to tie the game up at 59 and send it to overtime after the 40 minutes of regulation play.
- After four quarters, Emborsky led Daemen with 14 points and seven rebounds
- Overtime came down to free throws yet again, and a late foul on the Spartans led to the eventual game winning free throws for STAC
- Tonight's loss snapped Daemen's five-game ECC winning streak, dating back to Feb. 2022
UP NEXT
Daemen will face Mercy on Sunday at noon in a matinee matchup.
