Geoff Schneider

Women's Basketball Hosts Staten Island, UDC In ECC Match Ups This Weekend

1/11/2024 10:51:00 AM

By: CONTACT: Mary Margaret Johnson, Assistant Athletics Communications Director | mmjohnso@daemen.edu

BACK AT IT
The Daemen University women's basketball team returns to Lumsden Gymnasium this weekend as they resume East Coast Conference play with a pair of games. The Wildcats will host the College of Staten Island Dolphins on Friday in a 5:30 PM tilt, then square off against the University of District of Columbia Firebirds in a Sunday matinee game at 9 AM. Daemen comes into the weekend with an 8-4 overall record and 3-0 record in ECC games this season. Staten Island is 5-9 on the year and 2-2 in ECC play, while UDC is 11-4 overall and 4-0 in ECC games.

HOME, SWEET HOME
The Wildcats excel on home court, boasting a 54-6 overall record at Lumsden Gymnasium since the beginning of the 2018-19 season. Daemen has won 19 straight home games, a streak that is the fourth-longest in all of Division II women's basketball, behind only Catawba (26), UT Tyler (22) and Grand Valley State (20). The Wildcats haven't lost at home since February 22, 2022 when they fell 53-61 to St. Thomas Aquinas.

CONFERENCE DOMINATION
Daemen has won 13 straight conference games, which ranks fourth in NCAA Division II women's basketball. The back-to-back ECC winners have posted an overall record of 87-22 and a 54-7 record in ECC play since the 2019-20 season, while picking up four consecutive ECC regular season titles and three of four ECC Tournament titles. Daemen has been a staple in the NCAA Division II East Region Tournament for the past four seasons, coming home with the hardware of winning the 2021 East Region Championship and advancing to the regional championship game in 2022. The three seniors -- Angeletti, Matz and Paige -- have earned conference championship rings in each of their three seasons with the Wildcats and have never played on a losing team at Daemen.

LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
The Wildcats posted a 1-1 week in their final two non-conference games, starting with a huge home victory over #5 Ferris State. Daemen upset the Bulldogs 61-56, marking the first top-five victory in Daemen's NCAA Division II era (2015-present). Senior guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) led all players on the court with 26 points after going 10-of-21 from the field and 2-of-6 from beyond the arc while adding four rebounds, three assists and a steal. Sophomore Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) totaled 10 points after going 3-of-5 from the field and banking both triples that she shot against the Bulldogs. Daemen wrapped up non-conference play with a 73-56 loss to Indiana (Pa.) on Saturday, snapping a five-game win streak and finishing non-league games with a 5-4 record. The Wildcats shot 37% (20-of-54) from the field and banked just three of 14 from beyond the arc in the loss, with Paige leading the way offensively for the ninth straight game, finishing with 17 points. Pikett and senior guard Gabby McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.) each totaled 13 points in the game. Pikett went 6-of-7 from the field, while McDuffie shot 5-of-15 and 1-of-4 from beyond the arc. Sophomore forward Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) led the Cats at the boards with eight rebounds.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Paige picked up her first career ECC Player of the Week honor after averaging 21.5 points per game over the week, leading the Wildcats offensively in both contests. The ECC's scoring leader on the year, Paige averages 20.3 points per game, totaling 244 points through 11 games this season. The senior ranks fourth in NCAA Division II in three pointers per game (3.25) and eighth in the nation in three-point percentage (48.1). Last week, Paige was named the Daemen Athletics December Female Athlete of the Month after helping the Wildcats to a 4-0 month where she averaged 25 points per game and shot 60% from beyond the arc.

REGIONAL POLL
Daemen moved up to ninth in the East Region in the Week 7 Division II College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) Regional Poll, released on Monday evening. The Wildcats moved up from No. 10 in the region in the previous poll. The East Region consists of teams from the East Coast Conference, Northeast 10 Conference and the Central Atlantic Athletic Conference.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats hit the road next weekend to play at St. Thomas Aquinas on Friday at 5:30 and at Mercy on Sunday at noon.

THE DOLPHINS
Picked as the No. 7 team in the ECC Coaches' Preseason Poll coming into the 2023-24 season, Staten Island started out the year hot, opening the year with a 5-2 record and 2-0 in ECC play after picking up conference victories over Molloy and Queens. But since their 58-41 win over Queens on Dec. 2, the Dolphins have gone on a seven game skid, dropping ECC match ups against Mercy and STAC and losing five straight non-conference games. CSI touts four triple-digit scorers this season, with sophomore guards Dana Phelan (10.6 ppg) and Kyra Rose (10.1 ppg) leading the charge along with junior forward Jenalyse Alarcon (9.9 ppg) and senior guard Ashley Lambert (9.1 ppg) following suit. Phelan is the biggest threat from deep, leading the team and ranking third in the ECC beyond the arc after shooting 39% (37-of-95) from three-point land. Coming off the bench, Rose leads the team with a 45.9 shooting percentage (50-of-109) and averages 5.8 rebounds per game. 5-foot-9 Alarcon is CSI's leading rebounder this season, averaging 7.3 boards per game.

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats have won all five games in the series history, winning all three match ups in the 2022-23 season including a 64-52 victory in the ECC semifinals last March.

THE FIREBIRDS
Ranked third in the ECC preseason poll, UDC got off to a fast start, winning all 11 games easily to open the 2023-24 season with a perfect record. From there, the Firebirds have dropped all four of their last games, falling to non-conference opponents Frostburg State, Adelphi, New Haven and Bloomfield, and come into this weekend's road games against D'Youville and Daemen riding a four game losing streak. As the top scoring offense in the ECC, UDC averages 70 points per game, riding off the offense firepower from junior guards Destiny Ryles (14.6 ppg) and Tori Williams (14.2 ppg) and senior guard Latavia Jackson (13.9 ppg).

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats are 10-8 over the Firebirds. Daemen and UDC went 1-1 in the 2022-23 season, dropping their first meeting last season which snapped a nine-game Daemen win streak over the Firebirds.

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.

Follow the Daemen women's basketball program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenWBB.

Print Friendly Version