Women's Basketball Hosts Nationally Ranked Ferris State, Travels To IUP This Week

1/2/2024 4:34:00 PM

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

JUMP BALL
The Daemen University women's basketball team will play a pair of non-conference games in the first week of January. The Wildcats return to Lumsden Gymnasium for the first time since Dec. 2 on Wednesday for a big match up against the #5/#11 ranked Ferris State Bulldogs in a 1 PM tilt. Daemen then travels to Pennsylvania to play at Indiana (Pa.) on Saturday in a 1 PM game. The Wildcats come into this week with a 7-3 record on a four-game win streak. Ferris State is 7-1 on the year, while IUP comes into this weekend's game with a 7-2 overall record.

LOOK BACK AT 2023
Daemen posted a 7-3 record and 3-0 record in East Coast Conference before the New Year, and have won each of their last four games. After winning their first three ECC games of the season over Roberts Wesleyan (81-58), Molloy (60-45) and Queens (78-58), the Wildcats capped off December with a 57-44 victory on the road at Saint Michael's on Dec. 30 in a non-conference match up. Senior guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) posted a career-high 30 points after shooting 52-percent (11-of-21) from the field and knocking down 4-of-6 from beyond the arc while adding four rebounds, four assists and a steal on the night. Senior guard Gabby McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.) finished with 12 points for her fifth straight double-digit performance after shooting 5-of-11 from the field and knocking down 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. Senior forward Natalie Angeletti (Panama, N.Y.) pulled down a season-high 12 rebounds while sophomore forward Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) snagged nine boards.

HOME, SWEET HOME
The Wildcats excel on home court, boasting a 53-6 overall record at Lumsden Gymnasium since the beginning of the 2018-19 season. Daemen has won 18 straight home games, a streak that is tied for fourth in all of Division II women's basketball, behind only Catawba (26), Kentucky Wesleyan and UT Tyler (20) and tied with Grand Valley State (18). The Wildcats haven't lost at home since February 22, 2022 when they fell 53-61 to St. Thomas Aquinas.

NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Alahna Paige has put together an outstanding senior campaign and has been a key contributor on the Wildcat offense this season. Through ten games this season, Paige leads the team -- and the ECC -- in points per game with 20.1, which accounts for almost 1/3 of Daemen's total points per game (the Wildcats are averaging 65.1 ppg on the year). Paige also ranks third in NCAA Division II in three point field goals per game (3.6) and fourth in the nation in three point percentage (52.2). She posted back-to-back career-high outings, totaling 29 points against Queens on Dec. 10 in a game in which she tied the Daemen program record for most three-point field goals made in a single game (8), and followed up with a career 30 point night against Saint Michael's on Dec. 30.

BEAT THE BEST TO BE THE BEST
Since the 2016-17 season, the Wildcats have played 16 games against nationally-ranked opponents, facing at least one nationally-ranked foe per season for a 5-11 record. This year, the Wildcats fell to #18 Bentley in the season opener. In their last five games against nationally ranked teams, the Wildcats are 2-3, picking up a win over #22 Pace in the 2022-23 season opener but falling to #19 Jefferson in the East Region quarterfinals last season. Wednesday's match up against #5 Ferris State marks the highest ranked team the Cats have faced since taking on #1 Lubbock Christian on Nov. 20, 2021 when Daemen traveled to West Texas to play a rematch of the 2021 NCAA Elite Eight.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats resume ECC play when they host Staten Island and District of Columbia next Friday (Jan. 12) and Sunday (Jan. 14).

THE BULLDOGS
Ferris State comes into Wednesday's game ranked fifth in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and 11th in the Division II College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) polls with a 7-1 overall record. The Bulldogs upset #1 ranked Ashland 66-62 on Saturday, Dec. 16, snapping Ashland's 45-game win streak that spanned throughout the entire 2022-23 season. Ferris State returned 12 players from last season's 17-12 team, including senior forward Chloe Idoni who averages 17.6 ppg. Senior guard Mallory McCartney averages 14 ppg and leads the team with a 48.9 three-point percentage. Idoni leads the team with 6.9 rebounds per game, followed by junior guard Kadyn Blanchard and freshman forward Mya Hiram who each average 5.3 boards per game.

SERIES HISTORY
Wednesday's game marks the first time Daemen and Ferris State will meet on the court.

THE CRIMSON HAWKS
Indiana (Pa.) is 7-2 on the year and 4-1 in PSAC play and is currently riding a three-game win streak this season. The Crimson Hawks were selected third in the PSAC West preseason poll after posting an 18-10 record in 2022-23. On the year, IUP averages 72.8 ppg and averages a .464 field goal percentage while holding their opponents to just 56.6 points and shooting .395. A trio of Hawks are averaging double-digit points per game, led offensively by 5-foot-8 senior guard Rahmena Henderson with 16.9 ppg and is IUP's biggest weapon beyond the arc, going 23-of-57 for three this year. Graduate forward Teirra Preston averages 12 ppg and 8.1 rebounds per game along with 24 steals and 20 assists, while sophomore forward Nyshae' Weaver leads the way at the boards with 8.9 rebounds per game and averages 10.2 ppg.

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats and Crimson Hawks have only played once in program history, with IUP coming out victorious in the Jan. 5, 2000 match up.

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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