AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen College is the No. 9 team in the official NCAA Division II East Region rankings for women's basketball which were released this afternoon. It marks the last of three polls that will be released by the Regional Advisory Committee. The NCAA announces 10-team rankings for each of the eight regions across the country for three successive weeks leading up to the NCAA Championship selection announcement, which will be made this year on Sunday, March 6.
The East Region of NCAA Division II is comprised of teams from the East Coast Conference, the Northeast-10 Conference and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. The eight-team NCAA Championships East Regional—one of eight regional tournaments that comprise the 64-team NCAA tournament—will consist of three automatic berths and five at-large selections, and it takes place March 11-14 at a site that has yet to be determined.
Southern New Hampshire University (21-6) of the Northeast-10 sits atop the NCAA Regional poll for the third straight week, while Chestnut Hill College (23-5), University of the Sciences (22-4), Pace University (21-7) and Le Moyne College (17-6) round out the top five. The bottom five consists of Thomas Jefferson University (22-7), Bentley University (17-8), Stonehill College (15-8), Daemen (18-4) and Saint Anselm College (15-13).
Under the guidance of sixth-year head coach Jenepher Banker, the Wildcats have posted an 18-4 overall record so far this season, as well as a 16-1 mark in ECC play. Daemen owns a 17-3 in-region record this season and a 0-2 mark against teams included in this week's regional rankings—having lost two tight games to No. 9 Saint Anselm (75-70) and No. 8 Stonehill (68-66) back in November. The Wildcats were scheduled to play No. 5 Le Moyne and No. 7 Bentley, but those games were canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.
Daemen has won 16 of its last 17 games. The Wildcats clinched their third consecutive ECC regular season title with a 71-54 win last Thursday at Molloy College and ended the regular season Saturday with a 65-39 rout of Queens College (N.Y.). The Wildcats have held 55 of their last 66 opponents to 65 points or less and are 50-5 in those contests.
Daemen, which leads the ECC in both scoring offense (69.8 ppg) and defense (55.7 papg), enters the postseason as the No. 1 seed in this week's ECC Championship tournament. The tournament's semifinal (Saturday, March 5) and final (Sunday, March 6) will be held this weekend at Lumsden Gymnasium on Daemen's campus. The Wildcats await the winner of tonight's first round matchup between fourth-seeded Roberts Wesleyan College and fifth-seeded Mercy College.
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.
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