AMHERST, N.Y. - Senior Katie Titus (Penfield, N.Y.) scored 15 of her game-high 22 points in the first half to lead the Daemen College women's basketball team to a 79-45 victory over cross town rival D'Youville College tonight at Lumsden Gymnasium on the Daemen campus.

Daemen extended its winning streak to 12 straight games and improved to 14-3 overall and 12-0 in East Coast Conference play. The Wildcats have won 21 straight regular season conference games dating back to the start of last season. Daemen entered the game ranked eighth in the Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region poll. D'Youville, which is in its second season as an ECC member while the program continues to transition from NCAA Division III to Division II, saw its two game winning streak come to an end and dropped to 9-10 overall and 4-9 in conference.

Daemen connected on seven of its first eight shots and opened up a 17-4 lead following a jumper by redshirt senior Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.) midway through the first quarter. Both teams struggled to score the rest of the quarter and Daemen took a 19-7 lead into the second quarter. Daemen opened the second quarter with a three-pointer by Filbert and the Wildcats later took a 33-11 lead following a triple by sophomore Kaytlyn Matz (Johnsburg, Ill.) with 5:20 left before halftime. The Daemen lead was 21 points, 38-17, with just over three minutes left in the half and the Wildcats closed the half on a 9-0 run to take a 47-17 lead into halftime.

D'Youville outscored the Wildcats 11-4 at the start of the second half to cut the lead to 23 points, 51-28, but Daemen responded with a 10-0 spurt to put to rest any hope of a comeback. A layup by Titus with 3:03 left in the third quarter capped the run and gave the hosts a 61-28 lead. D'Youville would come no closer than 30 points the rest of the way.

IMPACT PLAYERS

• Twelve of the 13 players who saw action for Daemen scored in the game.
• Titus connected on 9-of-17 shots overall and went 4-of-8 from three-point land. The ECC scoring leader (19.1 ppg), she also registered five rebounds and three assists.
• Filbert was an efficient 5-of-7 from the field (3-for-3 from downtown) and finished with 13 points and four rebounds.
• Matz drilled two three-pointers and totaled 10 points, three assists and three blocks, while sophomore Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) added seven points, five rebounds and seven assists.
• Sophomore Sara Pfeiffer led the Saints with three three-pointers and 15 points. Pfeiffer, who entered the game ranked second in the ECC in scoring (18.6 ppg), scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half.

GAME NOTES

• With tonight's win, Daemen improved to 18-0 against D'Youville during the program's modern era (1986-present). The teams met twice last season, the first contests in the series since 2003.
• Daemen's 12 game winning streak ranks as the longest winning streak among all NCAA Division II East region teams. Chestnut Hill College entered tonight riding a 13 game winning streak but suffered a 79-72 loss to Dominican in overtime.
• The Wildcats shot 54-percent (18-of-33) from the field during the first half and went 29-for-64 (45%) from the field overall. D'Youville connected on just 7-of-29 (24%) shots in the first half and finished 17-of-54 (32%) from the field overall.
• The Wildcats made nine three-pointers in the first half and went 11-of-26 from downtown overall. The Saints connected on just 5-of-22 from behind the arc. Daemen went 16-of-31 from downtown during a 79-46 win over D'Youville earlier this year.
• Daemen finished with an edge in points off turnovers (25-6), second chance points (13-7), points in the paint (34-22) and fast break points (20-6).
• Daemen finished with 22 assists on 29 field goals. The Wildcats have now recorded 10 or more assists in 14 straight games, and have recorded 20 or more assists five times this season.
• Daemen has now held an opponent to 50 or less points seven times this season.
• Filbert increased her career totals to 1,291 points, 541 rebounds, 321 assists and 130 steals in 110 career games. She is looking to become the 13th player in program history to reach 1,300 career points and is just the sixth player in program history with at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists.
• Titus has scored in double figures in 13 straight and 16 of 17 games this season. She 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 1,282 points, 715 rebounds and 145 blocks in 90 career games. She ranks 14th in career points and is just the fourth player in program history to reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks.
• Paige has now handed out five out more assists in a game four times this season and is averaging 8.3 points and 4.3 assists over the past eight games.
• Daemen is now 65-13 in its last 78 games, a span that dates back to mid January of 2019.

NEXT JUMP BALL

The Wildcats return to action Sunday (Feb. 13) when they travel to the University of the District of Columbia for an ECC game.


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.