MANCHESTER, N.H. – All good things must come to an end, even in the world of sports.
In a game that went down to the literal last tenths of a second, Daemen women's basketball saw their season end in a 67-65 loss against Pace University in the NCAA East Regional finals Monday night at the Stan Spirou Field House on the campus of Southern New Hampshire University. The Wildcats had a 60-59 lead with just over three minutes left when freshman Arianna Stockinger's lone three-pointer of the night sparked an 8-5 finish for Pace to secure the win and advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2001. The loss ended Daemen's hopes of becoming the first East Coast Conference team to repeat as East Regional champions and the first overall since Bentley in 2011 and 2012.
Despite the loss, Daemen's veteran trio of Katie Titus (Penfield, N.Y.), Mickayla Ivy (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.) led the way again offensively. Titus recorded her fourth consecutive double-double with 27 points and 15 rebounds and Ivy added18 points. Filbert had another all-around quality performance with 11 points, six rebounds and five assists. Titus and Filbert were later named to the All-Regional Team along with Haley Meinel of Jefferson, Jess Huber of USciences and Pace's Lauren Schetter who equaled Titus with a 27-point performance in the Setters' win.
Daemen concludes their 2021-22 campaign with a 22-5 record (16-1 ECC regular season) and tonight's loss snapped a seven-game winning streak. Since early December, Daemen won 20 of their last 22 contests and were 21-4 against East Region opponents this season. Pace, meanwhile, heads to Birmingham, Alabama for the Elite Eight next week with a 24-7 record (15-5 NE-10). The Setters have now won 20 of their last 27 contests.
The matchup had a historical anecdote before tip-off, too. With Pace as the seven-seed and Daemen as the eight-seed, this was the first time the two lowest seeds competed in a NCAA Division II Regional final since Francis Marion defeated Augusta in the Southeast Regional finals on March 14, 2016.
With Titus and Ivy scoring two baskets apiece, Daemen established another strong start and had an 8-4 lead with 6:14 left in the opening quarter. Pace responded in a big way by not only erasing Daemen's lead, but using a 15-3 run to close the quarter to lead 19-11 after the first 10 minutes. The run was capped off by graduate student guard Naya Rivera's buzzer-beating jumper near the Daemen bench. While the Setters heated up, the Wildcats went on a cold spell from the floor over the last four minutes of the quarter with a free-throw from Filbert being their only point in this span.
Daemen ended Pace's long run when Titus attacked the basket and completed the old-fashioned three-point play. Filbert's layup made it a three-point game (19-16) with 8:05 left in the second quarter. However, the Setters established more distance as five points from graduate student forward Jasmine White – a three-pointer and a jumper – helped build a nine-point lead (28-21) with less than four minutes left. The Wildcats responded with back-to-back three-pointers from sophomore Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) and Titus and the lone basket from junior Marina Maerkl (Binghamton, N.Y.), bringing the Wildcats within a basket, 28-26, with 2:11 left before the break. Daemen found themselves trailing only by three points (31-28) with 1:42 remaining after another lay-up from Filbert. However, this would be Daemen's last converted field goal of the half and Schetter's lay-up with 0:35 left gave Pace a five-point cushion heading into the locker rooms (33-28.)
Pace established a nine-point lead at the start of the second half (39-30) before a Titus three-pointer and a pair of free-throws and a score from Ivy saw Daemen only trailing by two points again, 39-37, with 6:22 left in the period. Pace later expanded its lead to five points after White's third trey of the night gave them a 44-39 lead. But the Wildcats hung around as a hook-shot and a triple from Titus on consecutive scoring drives tied the game at 44-44 with over three minutes left. After two more ties, the Wildcats had momentum as baskets from Ivy and then sophomore forward Kaytlyn Matz (Johnsburg, Ill.) gave Daemen a 52-48 lead with 18 seconds left in the period. Once again, the Setters had the final say as Schetter's lay-up before the buzzer cut Daemen's lead in half, 52-50, heading into the fourth quarter.
With more contributions inside the paint from Ivy and Titus, Daemen was in the driver's seat with a 58-51 lead with 7:37 left to play. The Wildcats went on a two-minute scoring drought, which allowed the Pacers to make it a one-point game (58-57) with 5:33 remaining. Both teams then exchanged a pair of free-throws and Paige's contributions at the charity stripe would end up being Daemen's last lead of the night (60-59) with 3:04 left.
Daemen had two last chances to try to complete a come from behind victory within the last minute of play. Ivy scored her last basket of the night with 58 seconds left (64-62 Pace) and Titus drilled her fourth and final three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left on the clock (66-65 Pace). Pace's Katumina Mansaray was fouled and split a pair of free throws in the waning moments. Her second free throw clanked off the rim, but Daemen was not able to corral the rebound in time for a desperation heave.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- For a fourth straight contest, Titus recorded a double-double and once again led the Wildcats in points (27) and rebounds (15.) and shot 10-of-22 from the floor and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. This is the second time this season where Titus recorded double-doubles in three consecutive games (Nov. 12 – 19.) This was also Titus' 10th double-double of the season and finished in double-figure scoring in 25 of Daemen's 27 contests this season (73 career).
- Along with scoring 14 of her 18 points in the second half, Ivy shot 8-of-12 from the floor and finished with four rebounds, three assists and a career-high three blocks. Ivy finished in double-figure scoring 15 times, including in 14 of Daemen's last 23 contests.
- The 11 points tonight gave Filbert her 15th game in double-figure scoring this season (72 career). Tonight was also the 12th time this season that the veteran guard recorded at least five assists in a single contest.
- Paige finished with five points and six assists while Matz added five assists along with her late third quarter basket.
- Maerkl's second quarter was the only bench scoring for Daemen tonight.
- Schetter racked up her 27 points on 12-of-20 shooting while White (11 points) and Mansaray (10 points) also finished in double figures.
GAME NOTES
- Daemen has reached the 20-win plateau for the second time in the past three seasons. The Wildcats went 23-5, claimed its first-ever ECC Tournament title and made their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2019-20.
- Tonight was the inaugural meeting between Daemen and Pace. This was Pace's first appearance in the NCAA East Regional finals since a 64-61 loss versus Bentley in March 2011 and their upcoming trip to Birmingham, Ala. will be just their third Elite Eight appearance in program history (1985, 2001.) The Setters saw their 2020-21 season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The Wildcats shot 26-of-55 (47.3%) from the floor. Daemen also finished 5-of-10 (50%) from beyond the arc against the Setters, knocking down four of them over the second and third quarters.
- Daemen finished with 20 assists on 26 field goals, coming just one game after tying their season-high of 25 assists in Saturday's regional semifinal win over Jefferson. This was also the 19th time this season where the Wildcats have recorded 15+ assists in a single contest.
- Daemen also finished 8-of-9 (88.9%) from the free-throw line against the Setters, marking only the sixth time this season where the Wildcats did not record 10 or more free-throw attempts in a single contest. Tonight was the lone time Daemen lost in this scenario (5-1 overall).
- Pace shot 27-of-72 (37.5%) from the floor and finished 7-of-25 (28.0%) from three-point land, knocking down four of them in the second half alone. The Setters also finished 6-of-8 (75.0%) at the free-throw line and were the only opponent to defeat Daemen despite not recording 10+ free-throw attempts in a game (Daemen 7-1.)
- For only the third time this season, Daemen was out-edged in rebounding tonight with Pace winning the backboard, 39-36. The Wildcats out-rebounded their foes in 24 of 27 games this season, going 22-2 with a rebounding advantage, but 0-3 when being out-rebounded.
- Daemen out-edged the Setters in the points in the paint (30-26) and fast-break scoring (9-5.) However, they were out-gained in second-chance scoring (13-2), points off turnovers (16-6) and points off the bench (18-2). Daemen also recorded seven of their 12 turnovers in the first half alone, which matched Pace's total for the entire contest.
- Tonight was only the eighth time this season where Daemen found themselves trailing at halftime. This was the second time in three games after trailing to top-seed Southern New Hampshire, 25-23, at the break in their 70-59 regional quarterfinal upset win on March 11. Daemen finished 3-5 this season when trailing at halftime.
- Daemen has held 58 of its last 71 opponents to 65 points or less and are 53-5 in those games. In the 2021-22 campaign alone, Daemen went 3-3 when allowing 60-69 points in a single contest.
- Monday marked the 100th and final career game of Titus' career (92 starts.) She is now the 41st player in the program's modern era (1986-present) to appear in at least 100 contests in a Daemen career. Titus finished her four-year career with 1,512 points, 799 rebounds, 160 blocks and 196 three-pointers. As a result, Titus passed Larissa Smith '97 and finishes seventh all-time in career scoring. Titus also finished third in career three-point field goals made, sixth in career blocks and seventh in career rebounds. Titus also established the program's highest free-throw percentage in a career (.855.) A three-time All-ECC First Team selection (four-time selection overall) and the 2022 ECC Player of the Year, Titus walks away as the first player in program history to reach 1,400 points, 750 rebounds, 150 blocks and 150 three-pointers.
- Her performance tonight marked the 30th 20-point game of Titus' career. Daemen entered the game 28-1 when Titus scored at least 20 points.
- Monday marked the 120th and final game of Filbert's career (111 starts), tying her with Dana Forti '97 and Deanna Celej '98 for 15th all-time in most games played in program history. Filbert finished her five-year career with 1,413 points, 599 rebounds, 360 assists and 141 steals. As a result, Filbert passed Bridgette Burke '11 for ninth all-time in career scoring. Filbert also finished ninth in career assists and fifth in career free-throw shooting (.770.) A three-time All-ECC First Team selection (four-time selection overall), Filbert walks away as just the fourth player in program history with at least 1,300 points, 550 rebounds and 300 assists.
- Tonight also marked the final contest in the five-year career of graduate student guard Autumn Buchsenschutz (Port Allegany, Pa.) who spent the past five seasons with the Daemen program. The veteran guard appeared in 109 games for the Wildcats and recorded 14 of her 17 career starts in the 2018-19 season alone. Buchsenschutz recorded 275 points (2.5 per game), 162 rebounds (1.5 per game) and 169 assists (1.6 per game.)
- Senior Mary Foster (Elmira, N.Y.) is also departing from the team due to graduation. After two seasons at Division I New Hampshire, Foster appeared in 15 games as a reserve in the 2020-21season, where she most notably recorded four points and four rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench in Daemen's NCAA East Regional semifinal win versus Georgian Court on March 13, 2021. This was the program's first victory while competing in the NCAA Division II Tournament. Foster was not able to play this season due to injury.
- In a span dating back to mid-January 2019, Daemen is now 73-15 in its last 88 games.
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