Wildcats Face Top-Seeded Penmen To Open NCAA Tournament Friday

By converting a free-throw in the second quarter of a 54-53 win over Angelo State on November 19, senior Katie Titus became the 27th member of Daemen’s 1,000-point club. In 97 career games, Titus has made 89 starts and totaled 1,436 points, 758 rebounds and 154 blocked shots. She ranks eighth in career scoring all-time at Daemen. A three-time All-ECC First-Team selection and the 2022 ECC Player of the Year, Titus is the first player in program history to have 1,400 points, 750 rebounds, 150 blocks and 150 three-point field goals in a career. Titus has reached double-figure scoring in 22 contests and recorded seven double-doubles while averaging an ECC-best 19.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game this season.

With their 61-53 loss versus St. Thomas Aquinas on Feb. 18, Daemen saw many streaks come to a close. Their 13-game winning streak heading into Friday was the longest among all NCAA Division II East Region teams. The loss against the Spartans also ended a stretch where the Wildcats recorded 22 consecutive regular season ECC contests, dating back to the start of their first-ever unbeaten conference season in program history in 2020-21. Their last regular season ECC loss came in a 47-43 loss to the former NY Tech on March 1, 2020. The Wildcats were even more dominant in regular season ECC games at Lumsden Gymnasium as their loss against the Spartans was their first on Main Street since a 76-62 loss versus Roberts Wesleyan on Feb. 9, 2018 (1,470 days.) Daemen's regular season conference winning streak at home ended at 31 straight games.

Mickayla Ivy hit a jumper with 19 seconds to go and then secured a defensive rebound to help Daemen get past Angelo State, 54-53, in the opening round of the Lady Chap Classic hosted by Lubbock Christian on Nov. 19. It was the Wildcats’ first one-point victory since defeating rival Roberts Wesleyan, 70-69, on Jan. 20, 2015. Katie Titus scored 22 points – including the 1,000th of her career – and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Wildcats past the Belles.

On Nov. 20, Daemen suffered a 62-37 loss to Lubbock Christian in a rematch of the Wildcats’ first-ever NCAA Division II Elite Eight game from last March. The Chaps are the defending national champions and were ranked No. 1 in both national polls to start the season. 

The Southern New Hampshire Penmen are members of the Northeast-10 conference and are led by Karen Pinkos, who is in her 16th season with the program. The Penmen finished 21-6 overall and 15-4 in NE-10 play and are making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the 1989-90 season. SNHU did not play during the 2020-21 season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.  A 1988 graduate of Division I University of New Hampshire, Pinkos previously spent nine years as an assistant at Northeastern University before arriving in Manchester in 2005. Plinkos has accumulated a 215-233 record heading into the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

Eight players, including three of her top four scorers, return from the Penmen’s 2019-20 team that finished 16-13 overall. 

Graduate student and former NY Tech star Meg Knollmeyer leads the team in points per game (13.8) and rebounds per game (13.0) and has finished in double-figure scoring in 17 of her 22 appearances this season. Junior guard Adriana Timberlake is second in scoring (13.3), has finished in double-figure scoring 21 times (8 in last 10 contests) and leads the team in three-point shooting (60-of-158.) Graduate student guards Gyanna Russell (13.9) and Karlee Ziliak (12.3) are the other Penmen averaging double-figure scoring heading into the tournament.  

After finishing as the No. 1 seed and earning a first-round bye in the Northeast Region, the Penmen lost to No. 4. Southern Connecticut State, 71-64, on Feb. 26, snapping a six-game winning streak as a result. Sophomore Jessica Knight scored a career-high 18 points in the loss. Since early January, the Penmen are 12-4 in their last 16 contests.

2020  
(Mar. 13) #2 Stonehill vs. #7 Daemen
(Entire NCAA Tournament cancelled due to start of COVID-19 pandemic) 
Regional Quarterfinals Garden City, N.Y.

2021 (48-team field due to COVID-19)  
(Mar. 13) #2 Daemen 73, #3 Georgian Court 54 | Regional Semifinals | Amherst, N.Y..

(Mar. 15) #2 Daemen 58,  #5 Roberts Wesleyan 40 | Regional Finals | Amherst, N.Y. 

(Mar. 23) #1 Lubbock Christian 66,  #8 Daemen 49 |  National Quarterfinals | Columbus, Ohio
 

2022 (Return to full 64-team bracket)  
(Mar. 11) #1 So. New Hampshire vs. #8 Daemen | Regional Quarterfinals | Manchester, N.H.

NCAA TOURNAMENT WIN-LOSS RECORDS

OVERALL RECORD 2-1 (.667))
FIRST ROUND 0-0 (.000)
REGIONAL SEMIFINALS 1-0 (1.000)
REGIONAL FINALS  1-0 (1.000)
ELITE EIGHT 0-1 (.000)
AS #2 SEED 2-0 (1.000) 
AS #7 SEED 0-1 (.000)
AS #8 SEED 0-0 (.000)
VS. HIGHER SEED 0-1 (.000)
VS. LOWER SEED 2-0 (1.000)
AT AMHERST, N.Y. 2-0 (1.000)
AT COLUMBUS, OH 0-1 (.000)
AT MANCHESTER, N.H. 0-0 (.000)

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS BY THE NUMBERS

OVERALL APPEARANCES 3
CONSECUTIVE APPEARANCES 3 (2020-22)
REGIONAL FINALS  APPEARANCES 1 (2021)
REGIONAL SEMIFINALS APPEARANCES 1 (2021)
ELITE EIGHT APPEARANCES 1 (2021)

DAEMEN NCAA TOURNAMENT BENCHMARKS – INDIVIDUAL

POINTS                      Katie Titus (22) vs. RWC, 03/15/21
REBOUNDS            Caroline White (16) vs. RWC, 03/15/21
ASSISTS     Alahna Paige (5) vs. Georgian Court, 03/13/21
                   Autumn Buchsenschutz (5) vs. RWC, 03/15/21
STEALS      5 players with 2 (Alahna Paige 2x vs. Georgian Court, 03/13/21 & RWC, 03/15/21)
BLOCKS                   Katie Titus (3) vs. RWC, 03/15/21
FIELD GOALS      Caroline White (8) vs. Georgian Court, 03/13/21
                                Katie Titus (8) vs. RWC, 03/15/21
3-PT FG                  Katie Titus (5) vs. RWC, 03/15/21
FR. THROWS    Mickayla Ivy (5) vs. Georgian Court, 03/13/21
           Caroline White (5) vs. Lubbock Christian, 03/23/21

DAEMEN NCAA TOURNAMENT BENCHMARKS - TEAM

POINTS                             73 vs. Georgian Court, 03/13/21
REBOUNDS                                    46 vs. RWC, 03/15/21
ASSISTS                          16 vs. Georgian Court, 03/13/21
STEAL                                              8 vs. RWC, 03/15/21
BLOCKS                                            5 vs. RWC, 03/15/21
FIELD GOALS                    27 vs. Georgian Court, 03/13/21
FG%                              42.9% vs. Georgian Court, 03/13/21
3-PT FG                                           6 vs. RWC, 03/15/21
3-PT%                                           27.3% vs. RWC, 03/15/21
FR. THROWS               17 vs. Lubbock Christian, 03/23/21
FT%                             85% vs. Lubbock Christian, 03/23/21