Geoff Schneider

Women's Basketball On The Road This Weekend At STAC, Mercy

1/18/2024 9:17:00 AM

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

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Daemen University women's basketball team hits the road this weekend for a pair of East Coast Conference games, taking on 7-8 St. Thomas Aquinas on Friday at 5:30 PM and wrapping up the road trip with a noon game at 9-6 Mercy on Sunday. Daemen comes into the weekend with a 9-4 overall record and 4-0 in ECC match ups this season, while St. Thomas Aquinas comes in at 7-8 on the season and 2-2 in the ECC, and Mercy is 9-6 overall and 2-2 in ECC games.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
After Sunday's game against District of Columbia was postponed due to inclement weather, the Wildcats won their only match up of the week in a 73-54 victory over Staten Island last Friday night. Daemen blew open the game in the third quarter after scoring 25 points and never looked back in the game, winning their 14th consecutive ECC game to move to 9-4 on the year and 4-0 in ECC play. Sophomore forward Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) had a career night against the Dolphins, dropping 20 points while shooting 64% (9-of-14) from the field. Pikett led the Wildcats offensively for the first time this season, crossing the 20-point mark for the first time in her career, and added five rebounds, three steals and one block to her stat line in the win. Senior guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) followed up with 19 points, while senior guard Gabby McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.) added 11 points. The Wildcats increased their home win streak to 20 games, the fourth-longest home win streak in NCAA Division II women's basketball.

CONFERENCE DOMINATION
Daemen has won 14 straight conference games, a streak which ranks fourth in the nation. 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.

DEFENSIVE MINDED
The Wildcats lead the league defensively, allowing their opponents to score an average of 59 points per game over their 13-game season thus far. In their four ECC games, the Wildcats have held their ECC opponents to an average of 54 ppg, while outscoring Roberts Wesleyan, Molloy, Queens and Staten Island by an average of 19 points in each of their four conference victories.

REGIONAL POLL
Daemen moved up to eighth in the East Region in the Week 8 Division II College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) Regional Poll, released on Monday evening. The Wildcats moved up from ninth in the region in last week's poll. The East Region consists of teams from the East Coast Conference, Northeast 10 Conference and the Central Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Wildcats are the only ECC team that is currently ranked in the region.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats return to Lumsden Gymnasium next weekend as they host Molloy (Friday, Jan. 26) and Queens (Sunday, Jan. 28).

THE SPARTANS
Picked as the top team in the 2023-24 ECC Preseason Coaches Poll after finishing second in the regular season and ECC Tournament last season, St. Thomas Aquinas faced a tough start to the season, dropping five of their first seven games of the year. The Spartans come into Friday's game with a 7-8 record and 2-2 record in ECC games, with six of their eight losses coming to regionally ranked teams. STAC is riding a three-game losing streak, dropping all games in January to Jefferson, Chestnut Hill and are coming off an 82-78 overtime loss at Roberts Wesleyan. ECC Preseason Player of the Year Sarah Ericson leads the Spartans with 15.1 points per game, while junior forward Erin Leary averages 13.1 ppg and leads the Spartans with 7.6 rebounds per game, a .431 field goal percentage and shoots 39.7% from beyond the arc.

SERIES HISTORY
The Spartans own a 13-9 overall record over Daemen, but the Wildcats won two of the three meetings last season, including the ECC Championship game 66-51.

THE MAVERICKS
Selected as the fourth team in the ECC Preseason Coaches Poll after posting a third place finish in the 2022-23 regular season, Mercy comes into this weekend's game with a 9-6 overall record after starting the season with a 2-2 record in ECC play. The Mavericks started the season 5-0 and has picked up conference victories over Staten Island and Roberts Wesleyan but dropped games at St. Thomas Aquinas and District of Columbia. Mercy has the second-best scorer in the league behind Paige, as graduate guard Katie Wall is averaging 17.3 ppg and is shooting 36.8% from the field while averaging 2.3 triples per game. 5-foot-8 junior forward Jaclyn Stanavich is averaging 14.1 ppg and 6.7 boards per game. Sunday's game will be a battle of the two best defenses in the ECC, with the Mavericks also allowing just 59 points per game over their 15 game season. The difference will be in the scoring, as Mercy is averaging 59.8 points per game offensively, while Daemen is averaging 64.7.

SERIES HISTORY
Over the 20-game series history, Daemen has won 18 games over the Mavericks, winning the last 15 match ups.

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.

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