Women's Basketball | 2/7/2023 4:54:00 PM

Game #19
Daemen Wildcats (14-4, 9-3 ECC) vs. Roberts Wesleyan Redhawks (3-15, 2-9 ECC)
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 7
Time: 6 PM
Location: Rochester, N.Y. | Voller Athletic Center
Live Stream: via ECC Network
Live Stats: via robertsredhawks.com
 

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MIDWEEK CLASH
The Daemen University women's basketball team makes the short trek eastbound on I-90 for a Wednesday evening matchup at longtime rival Roberts Wesleyan. Tip off is set for 6 PM between the Wildcats and Redhawks. Daemen enters the matchup with a 14-4 overall record and 9-3 in East Coast Conference play, while Roberts comes in at 3-15 overall and 2-9 in ECC play. 

FINAL REGULAR SEASON ROAD GAME
The Wildcats have played 11 of their 18 games so far this season on the road or at a neutral site, and Wednesday's matchup at Roberts Wesleyan marks the final road game of the regular season. Daemen owns a 2-0 record in games played at a neutral site and a 5-4 record in road games. The Wildcats are riding a two-game road win streak after large wins over Molloy and Queens on Jan. 27 and 29. The last time Daemen lost at Roberts Wesleyan was on Feb. 28, 2018 in a 12-point loss. Since then, Daemen has won 12 of the last 13 matchups between the two teams, with their sole loss to the Redhawks being in the 2020-21 ECC Championship game on March 6, 2021. 

LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
Daemen picked up a pair of ECC wins over Staten Island and District of Columbia over the weekend. The Wildcats posted their largest win of the season in a 25-point victory, 79-54, over the Dolphins on Friday night in a game in which four Daemen players posted double-digit points and the Wildcats shot a season-high 53-percent (34-of-64) from the field and 44-percent (10-of-23) from beyond the arc. Freshman forward Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) and junior guard Kaytlyn Matz (Johnsburg, Ill.) each tallied 15 points in the victory. Daemen finished the weekend by posting their largest point total of the season in a 91-63 victory over District of Columbia, getting revenge over the Firebirds from Jan. 21's loss on the road. The Wildcats never trailed on Sunday afternoon and totaled 48 rebounds, marking their second-highest total of the season, and finished with a season-high 37 defensive boards over the Firebirds. Pikett and junior forward Natalie Angeletti (Panama, N.Y.) were two of five Daemen players in the double figures, and each scored 13 points a piece. Angeletti tallied her second double-double of the year, pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds. 

PIKETT IN THE PAINT
After scoring 28 points in back-to-back double digit point outings on the weekend, Claire Pikett earned her first ECC Rookie of the Week honors after shooting 83-percent from the field (10-of-12) and 75-percent (3-of-4) from beyond the arc to help Daemen sweep the weekend's games against UDC and Staten Island. Pikett scored a career-high 15 points against the Dolphins on Friday night. She is the first Daemen player to earn Rookie of the Week honors since Katie Titus in the 2018-19 season, and is the second Wildcat to earn an ECC weekly award this season, as Paige Emborsky (Newfane, N.Y.) was named ECC Player of the Week on Dec. 5 after averaging 17 points per game in ECC opening weekend games against Queens and Molloy. 

A LOTTA ALAHNA
Junior guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) totaled 14 points on the weekend, including an 11-point outing against UDC on Sunday afternoon, marking her 10th game in the double figures of the season. Paige shot 50-percent from the field against the Firebirds and knocked down a three point field goal, and finished the weekend with eight rebounds, 11 assists and a steal. With her fourth of six assists against District of Columbia, Paige tallied her 58th assist of the season, and her 200th assist in her career. 

POLL POSITION
The Wildcats remain ranked fifth in the East Region in the Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) Women's Basketball Regional Poll. Daemen has been ranked in 46 straight regional polls dating back to early January 2019. Only Jefferson, Assumption, Le Moyne and Southern New Hampshire are ranked higher in the region than the Wildcats. St. Thomas Aquinas is the only other ECC team in the East Region rankings at No. 7. 

CONFERENCE STANDINGS
With 12 ECC games under their belts and six left to play, Daemen is in sole possession of second place in the conference. The Wildcats own a 9-3 record in ECC play, just one game back from conference leader St. Thomas Aquinas with a 9-2 record, and are currently riding a six-game winning streak in conference games. Mercy holds an 8-3 record and is in third place in the standings. District of Columbia sits in fourth place with a 7-5 record after splitting last weekend's games in Western New York. STAC and Mercy have a big Wednesday evening matchup that could shake up the standings. 

St. Thomas Aquinas (9-2)
DAEMEN (9-3)
Mercy (8-3)
Dist. of Columbia (7-5)
D'Youville (6-6) *Ineligible for postseason play
Queens (4-7)
Staten Island (4-8)
Roberts Wesleyan (3-9)
Molloy (2-9)

UP NEXT
The Wildcats have over a week off after Wednesday's road game, and are back in action with a big weekend for conference tournament standings, starting on Friday, Feb. 17 when they host St. Thomas Aquinas at 6 PM. The Wildcats will then host Mercy on Sunday, Feb. 19 in a noon game.

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SCOUTING THE ROBERTS WESLEYAN REDHAWKS
After tallying a huge 82-66 win over District of Columbia on Jan. 16 that snapped a six-game losing streak, the Redhawks have been winless ever since, and come into Wednesday's matchup on a three-game skid. Since their 20-point loss to Daemen on Jan. 11, Roberts has lost games by point differentials of nine points, three points, eight points and a 34-point rout by STAC. Two Redhawks have earned ECC Rookie of the Week a total of six times, with four-time honoree Grace Galgano ranking second on the team in scoring (11 ppg) and rebounding (5.6 rpg) and leading the team with 29 blocks on the year, along with two time ECC ROTW in fellow freshman Paris Anthony adding 8.6 ppg and leading the Redhawks shooting 46-percent from the field. Junior guard Georgia Haverlock leads the Redhawks in scoring and rebounding on the year, averaging 11.1 ppg and 6.9 rebounds per game. Junior point guard Danielle DiCintio leads the team with 23 steals and 66 assists on the season, and comes into Wednesday's matchup shooting 39-percent from beyond the arc for a team-high 47-of-120. 

SERIES RECORD VS. ROBERTS WESLEYAN
All-Time Record: 52-25 Daemen
Home Record: 33-10 Daemen
Away Record: 19-15 Daemen
Conference Record: 35-18 Daemen
Last Meeting: 71 Daemen 51 Roberts Wesleyan | Jan. 11, 2023 | Amherst, 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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