Game #22
Daemen Wildcats (17-4, 12-3 ECC) vs. D'Youville Saints (10-13, 8-7 ECC) 
Date: Saturday, Feb. 25
Time: 4 PM
Location: Amherst, N.Y. | Lumsden Gymnasium
Live Stream: via ECC Network
Live Stats: via daemenwildcats.com
Tickets

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REGULAR SEASON FINALE
The Daemen University women's basketball team wrap up the regular season on Saturday afternoon with a 4 PM matchup against crosstown foe D'Youville. The Wildcats come into Saturday's game with a 17-4 overall record and a 12-3 record in East Coast Conference play, while the Saints enter 10-13 overall and 8-7 in ECC play.

THANK YOU, SENIORS
Six Wildcats will be recognized for Senior Night at 3:40 PM prior to tip-off on Saturday. Daemen is celebrating the final regular season home game for guard Paige Emborsky (Newfane. N.Y.), guard Alina Estrella (Brooklyn, N.Y.), forward Gina Fumerelle (Amherst, N.Y.), forward Mickayla Ivy (Grand Rapids, Mich.), forward Marina Maerkl (Binghamton, N.Y.) and guard Maddy Stearns (Clarence, N.Y.). 

After transferring to Daemen for her final year of eligibility, Emborsky made an immediate impact for the Wildcats this season. The 5-foot-6 guard has scored 214 total points this season and averages 11.5 ppg, while leading the ECC in shooting, going 54-percent from the field (82-of-152) and 62-percent from beyond the arc (55-of-89). Emborsky ranks second on the team in total rebounds (77), and averages 3.7 boards per game. A hot-handed shooter, Emborsky has led all of Division II in three point percentage throughout the season with her 61.8%, a ways ahead of the second-best three point percentage in D-II (51.2%). She has been named ECC Player of the Week once this season. 

A four-year member of the Daemen women's basketball team, Estrella has appeared in 54 games for the Wildcats, and averages 10.7 minutes per game over her career. After redshirting her freshman season at Daemen, appeared in her first game in the 2020-21 season. The 5-foot-6 guard totals 119 points (2.2 ppg) in her career and 111 rebounds (2.1 rebounds per game). Estrella is in the midst of her best season at Daemen, scoring 44 points over the year while averaging 14.4 minutes per game. Estrella has tallied 17 steals on the year, tied for fourth most on the team. 

The heart of the team and a big personality on the bench, Fumerelle has been a part of the Wildcats for four seasons. She has been featured in 19 games over the course of her career. Recording 43 total minutes, she has scored 10 points and has a .364 shooting percentage from the field. 

Playing in her final regular season game at Lumsden, Ivy has been a part of the team for five seasons and has racked up 2,339 minutes for an average of 20.5 minutes per game. Starting every game for the past three seasons, Ivy has been featured in 114 total games for the Wildcats with 69 starts. As the ECC's field goal percentage leader in 2021-22, Ivy has a .463 career field goal percentage for 710 points, and has pulled down 485 total rebounds in her five year career. In the 2022-23 season, Ivy ranks second on the team with 90 rebounds (4.3 rebounds per game) while scoring 176 points (8.4 ppg) for a .426 field goal percentage. 

Maerkl has been a part of the Daemen women's basketball team for four years and has appeared in 88 games, averaging 9 minutes per game. In her four year career as a Wildcat, she has pulled down 184 rebounds (2.1 per game), totaled 222 points (2.5 ppg) and totaled 42 assists and 19 steals. In her senior season, Maerkl has appeared in all 21 games and is shooting a career-high 58-percent from the field (22-of-38) for a total of 53 points, while totaling 40 rebounds and six steals.  

A four-year member of the Daemen team, Stearns has made an appearance in 23 games. She totals 29 points in her career, averaging 1.3 ppg and has an impressive .450 field goal percentage over her career. This season, she scored a career-high six points against Roberts Wesleyan on Feb. 8th, knocking down three of four free throws and draining a three-pointer against the Redhawks. Stearns has pulled down 11 total rebounds in her three years on the court with the Wildcats.

CONFERENCE STANDINGS
The Wildcats sit at the top of the conference with a 12-3 record in ECC play, one game ahead of second place St. Thomas Aquinas (11-4) who the Wildcats beat last Friday night. Mercy sits in third at 10-5 with a half-game lead over Dist. of Columbia who has finished their regular season slate and sits at 10-6. Staten Island and Queens are tied for fifth with a 5-10 record. If Daemen wins on Saturday, the Wildcats will notch their third straight regular season championship and host the semifinal and final rounds of the ECC Championship Tournament, to be held next Saturday and Sunday, March 4-5. 

DAEMEN (12-3)       1 game left to play
St. Thomas Aquinas (11-4)    1 game left to play
Mercy (10-5)              1 game left to play
Dist. of Columbia (10-6)         0 games left to play
D'Youville (8-7)        1 game left to play *Ineligible for postseason play
Staten Island (5-10)  1 game left to play
Queens (5-10)           1 game left to play
Molloy (4-11)           1 game left to play
Roberts Wesleyan (3-12)    1 game left to play

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
The Wildcats put together a pair of big wins last week, first taking down STAC 77-68 on Friday night in what turned out to be Emborsky's big night. The graduate student guard tallied a career-high 26 points after shooting 9-of-16 from the field and knocking down a career-high eight three-point field goals. Emborsky's eight three-pointers tied the Daemen record for most three-point field goals made in a game. The Wildcats then posted their seventh straight game with a 69-59 victory over Mercy on Sunday afternoon. Daemen never trailed in the win, and three Wildcats scored in the double-digits led by Ivy who finished with 21 points on the day. 

HOME, SWEET HOME
Daemen has been very successful at defending home court. The Wildcats own a 9-0 record at Lumsden Gymnasium this season, and have amassed a 47-6 record at home since the beginning of the 2018-19 season. In the playoffs, Daemen is 3-1 at home, with their sole home loss coming in the 2021 ECC Championship game to Roberts Wesleyan. The Wildcats swept their games at home in the ECC tournament last season, taking down the Redhawks in the semifinals and topping Molloy 74-67 in the 2022 conference championship game.

(WIN) STREAKING
The Wildcats have won seven straight games, with an average margin of victory of 20.7 points per game. In their nine-game undefeated home stretch this season, Daemen has beaten teams by an average of 16.2 points per game.  

REGIONAL RANKING
Daemen is the No. 10 team in the official NCAA Division II East Region rankings for women's basketball which were released on Wednesday afternoon. It marks the second 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 5.

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SCOUTING THE D'YOUVILLE SAINTS
The Wildcats host the Saints on Saturday in the regular season finale. The last time these two met on the court was a back-and-forth affair that came down to the wire, but Daemen was upset by D'Youville 60-51, marking the first time that the Saints beat the Wildcats in the history of the matchup, a crosstown rivalry that spans 18 games and dates back to 1986. Since then, D'Youville went 4-4, picking up wins over Molloy, Roberts Wesleyan, Walsh and a big 68-49 victory over Mercy on Friday night. D'Youville junior guard Brianne Moxley leads the Saints with an average of 10.4 ppg, while the sophomore guard duo of Anna Jankovic and Stella Mollica average 9.9 and 9.4 ppg, respectively. Jankovic leads the conference in rebounding, averaging 10.3 boards per game and leads D'Youville beyond the arc with a 36.5 three-point shooting percentage. Haley Kirisits posts a 41.6 shooting percentage from the field, banking 69-of-166 to lead the Saints in shooting on the season. 

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. D'YOUVILLE
Series Record: 18-1 Daemen
Away Record: 8-1
Home Record: 10-0
Conference Record: 4-1
Last Meeting: 60 D'Youville 51 Daemen | Jan. 18, 2023 | Buffalo, N.Y.

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Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 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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