AMHERST, N.Y. -- Daemen University freshman forward
Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) picked up her first East Coast Conference weekly award of her young career after a stellar weekend of play. The conference announced the weekly award winners on Monday afternoon for competitions taking place Jan. 30 through Feb. 5. Pikett was named the ECC Rookie of the Week.
Pikett, a 6-foot freshman, put together the highest scoring weekend of the season. She totaled 28 points while shooting 83-percent from the field (10-of-12) and 75-percent (3-of-4) from beyond the arc as she helped Daemen sweep the weekend's games over Staten Island and District of Columbia. Pikett scored a career-high 15 points against the Dolphins on Friday night in a game in which she missed just one shot all game.
On Sunday, she turned in her second-straight double digit point performance, totaling 13 points against the Firebirds and shooting 4-of-5 from the field. Pikett pulled down a total of 12 rebounds for the Wildcats on the weekend, while adding three assists, two steals and two blocks.
On the season, Pikett ranks fourth on the team in rebounds (62) and averages 3.4 rebounds per game. She leads the team in blocks (20), ranks third in steals (19) and is just 18 points away from recording her 100th career point. Over the last five games, she averages 18 minutes, nine points and five rebounds per game. Pikett has recorded at least one assist, one block and one steal in four of the last five games.
Pikett is just the second Wildcat player to earn an ECC weekly award this season, and the first to earn ECC Rookie of the Week. Graduate student
Paige Emborsky (Newfane, N.Y.) was named the ECC Player of the Week on Dec. 5 after helping to lead the Wildcats to wins over Queens and Molloy in the opening weekend of ECC play. Pikett is the first Daemen basketball player to be named ECC Rookie of the Week since
Katie Titus during the 2018-19 season. Titus was named ECC Rookie of the Year after winning ECC Player of the Week twice, ECC Defensive Player of the Week twice and ECC Rookie of the Week four times over the course of the 18-19 season.
The Wildcats are 14-4 and 9-3 in ECC play after the weekend sweep. Daemen will play just one game this week, traveling to Rochester on Wednesday for a midweek battle of I-90. Tip off between Daemen and Roberts Wesleyan is slated for 6 PM.
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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