WORCESTER, Mass. – Playing in their fourth straight NCAA Division II Tournament, the No. 6 seeded Daemen University women's basketball season came to an end with a 74-47 loss to No.3 seed Thomas Jefferson University in the quarterfinals of the East Region championship. The Wildcats' 10-game win streak was snapped with the loss, and Daemen finishes the 2022-23 campaign with a 20-5 overall record. The Rams avenge their 2022 East Region semifinal loss to the Wildcats and advance to the semifinals where they will face the winner of No. 2 Southern New Hampshire and No. 7 St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday.
The Wildcats opened up the scoring with a three from graduate student
Paige Emborsky (Newfane, N.Y.), but Jefferson then went on a 12-2. The Rams shot 43-percent (9-of-21) from the field in the first quarter and held the momentum through the end of the first quarter to take a 21-11 lead after one.
Daemen and Jefferson each knocked down 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in the second quarter and each scored 18 second-quarter points. The Wildcats headed into the break down 39-29 at the half after shooting 38-percent (6-of-16) from the field. Junior guard Gabbie McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.) led the Wildcats with 8 first half points.
Emborsky scored the opening points in the second half with a quick layup, but the Jefferson defense stood tall in the third quarter, holding the Wildcats to just six points. The Rams outscored Daemen 14-6 in the third, with six of Jefferson's 14 points coming off free throws. Daemen trailed 53-35 heading into the final quarter of play.
The Wildcats hung with the Rams in the first half of the fourth quarter but were ultimately outscored 21-12 in the final quarter of play. Daemen finished the game shooting 29-percent from the field (18-of-63) while eight of Daemen's 18 buckets came in the form of three-point field goals, as the Cats shot 30-percent from beyond the arc (8-of-27).
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Junior guard Gabby McDuffie led all Daemen players for the second straight game, finishing with 14 points after shooting 39-percent (5-of-13) from the field and an impressive 44-percent (4-of-9) from three-point land. She tallied four rebounds, an assist and a steal on the day.
- Junior forward Natalie Angeletti (Panama, N.Y.) totaled 11 points after going 4-of-9 on the day, and finished with three rebounds.
- Guard Paige Emborsky capped off final college game with an eight-point outing against the Rams, finishing 3-of-7 from the field and 2-of-5 from beyond the arc. She pulled down five rebounds, including four defensive boards, in the game.
- Playing in her final game in a Daemen uniform, fifth year forward Mickayla Ivy (Grand Rapids, Mich.) finished with a team-high nine rebounds (seven defensive boards and two offensive boards), as well as three assists, a block and two points.
GAME NOTES
- The Wildcats are playing in their fourth straight NCAA Division II East Regional. Daemen won the 2021 East Region title and fell in the 2022 East Region championship.
- Jefferson is making their fifth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, and 14th in program history.
- Daemen had a hard time knocking down shots in the first. The Wildcats shot 24-percent (4-of-17) from the field, with three of their four shots in the first coming off three-point field goals (3-of-11 from beyond the arc). Daemen trailed 21-11 after one quarter of play.
- After being named the Most Outstanding Player of the ECC Tournament last weekend, junior guard Gabbie McDuffie led Daemen in the first with six points after going 2-of-4 from beyond the three-point line.
- All five Rams scored in the first quarter. Jefferson shot 43-percent from the field in the first and led by as much as 11 after one quarter of play.
- Emborsky, Matz and Paige each tallied second quarter three's.
- The Wildcats improved their second quarter shooting, going 6-of-16 (38-percent) from the field as seven different players tallied points.
- Daemen's six third-quarter points marks the second lowest in a quarter all season for the Wildcats.
- The Rams outscored the Wildcats 21-12 in the fourth quarter to finish with a 74-47 quarterfinal victory over Daemen. As the eighth seed in the 2022 East Region tournament, the Wildcats upset the fourth seeded Rams 70-52 in the East Region semifinals last season.
- Jefferson's Haley Meinel finished as the top scorer on the day with 22 points. Three other Rams totaled double-digit points, and Cassie Murphy and Sam Yencha both finished with a double-double.
- The Rams out-rebounded Daemen 50 to 38 tonight.
- Daemen moves to a 4-3 record in NCAA Division II Tournament play.
NOTABLE
- Paige Emborsky finished her collegiate career on Friday. The 5-foot-6 guard finished her one-year Daemen career with a team-high 284 points, averaging 11.4 ppg. She started in 24 of 25 games this season and led the team with 28.4 minutes per game. Emborsky led all Wildcats shooting 52.7-percent from the field (96-of-182). The sharpshooter finished the season shooting 59.1-percent (65-of-110) from beyond the arc, leading all Division II players throughout the year. Her 59.1-percent three-point field goal percentage sets an NCAA Division II record for highest three-point field goal percentage in a season, breaking the decades-old record of .563 set by Durene Heisler of North Dakota in 1990 (63-of-112) and Becky Mauck of North Alabama in 1998 (45-of-80).
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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