AMHERST, N.Y. -- The Daemen University women's basketball team won their seventh straight game with a 69-59 victory over Mercy 69-59 at home in the second to last regular season game of the year. The Wildcats move to 17-4 on the season and 12-3 in East Coast Conference play, while dropping the Mavericks to 15-9 overall and 9-5 in the ECC. 

The Wildcats never trailed in this game, and led by as much as 12 points. With the win, the Wildcats remain in first place in the ECC, holding a half-game lead over St. Thomas Aquinas, who is 10-4 in conference play after picking up a 68-49 win over D'Youville on Sunday afternoon. Daemen shot 43-percent (27-of-63) from the field, 50-percent (6-of-12) from beyond the arc and 60-percent (9-of-15) from the free throw stripe. Three Wildcats scored in the double-digits, with fifth year forward Mickayla Ivy (Grand Rapids, Mich.) leading all shooters with 21 points on the day. Mercy's Jaclyn Stanavich led the Mavs with 18 points. 

Daemen returns to Lumsden Gymnasium on Saturday for the regular season finale against D'Youville at 2 PM. Saturday will mark senior day for the Wildcats, as well as the Hall of Fame celebration to induct the four Daemen alumni into the 2023 Daemen Athletics Hall of Fame. 

IMPACT PLAYERS

• Mickayla Ivy finished 8-of-15 (53-percent) from the field, and 5-of-9 from the free throw stripe. Ivy pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and added three assists to her stat line. 
• Junior guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) finished with 14 points, shooting an impressive 83-percent from the field (5-of-6), 2-of-2 from beyond the arc and knocking down both free throws on the day. She snagged four rebounds, four assists, and two steals. 
• Freshman forward Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) totaled 10 points on the day, shooting 5-of-9 (56-percent) from the field while snagging five boards and tallying a career-high four blocks. 

GAME NOTES

• Daemen owns a 9-0 record at home this season. The Wildcats are 47-6 at Lumsden Gymnasium since the beginning of the 2018-19 season.
• The Wildcats got hot from the jump, leading by 10 for the first half of the first quarter. Mercy put together a 9-4 run to close the gap, but a buzzer beater layup by Alahna Paige gave Daemen the 24-17 lead after one.
• Ivy and Angeletti combined for 15 of Daemen's 24 first quarter points.
• The Mavericks put together an 8-2 run to open up the second quarter and bring the game within one point.
• Daemen led 33-29 at the half, shooting 45-percent (15-of-33) from the field and 50-percent (3-of-6) from beyond the arc.
• Ivy led all shooters with 10 first half points after going 5-of-6 from the field.
• Seven Wildcats recorded rebounds in the first half with Ivy, Matz, Hauer, Pikett and Estrella all tallying two boards a piece through the first two quarters.
• Daemen outscored Mercy in the first, third and fourth quarters, putting up a game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter to seal the deal. 
• The Wildcats out-rebounded Mercy 43 to 32, with Daemen tallying 32 defensive boards.
• Ten of 11 Daemen players that stepped on the court recorded a rebound.
• Three Daemen players recorded a total of seven steals on the day, with Shyla Montgomery (Brockton, Mass.) leading the charge with three steals. Natalie Angeletti (Panama, N.Y.) and Paige each tallied two steals.