Geoff Schneider

Women's Basketball Welcomes Molloy, Queens This Weekend

1/25/2024 2:27:00 PM

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

HOME AGAIN
The Daemen University women's basketball team returns to home, sweet home -- Lumsden Gymnasium -- this weekend, to kick start the second half of East Coast Conference play with games against the Molloy Lions and Queens Knights. Touting a 10-5 record and 5-1 ECC record, the Wildcats will host Molloy, who comes in with an 8-8 overall record and 3-3 record in ECC play, in a 5:30 PM match up on Friday evening, then play Queens in a Sunday matinee game at 12 PM. Queens enters the weekend with a 5-12 record on the year and 1-5 record in ECC games.

LAST WEEK WRAP UP
The Wildcats lost their first conference game of the season, falling at St. Thomas Aquinas 70-59 to snap a 14-game ECC win streak, which was the fourth-longest conference win streak in NCAA Division II women's basketball. Daemen and STAC were evenly matched throughout the game, but the fourth quarter was the difference maker, with the Spartans going on a 10-0 run to open the final quarter. STAC outscored the Wildcats 27-17 in the fourth despite a good effort late by the Cats. A trio of Wildcats scored in the double-digits in the loss to the Spartans, with senior guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) leading the way offensively for the tenth game this season with 19 points. Sophomore forward Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) finished with 17 points, while senior guard Gabby McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.) totaled 12 points in the loss. The Wildcats got back on track on Sunday, topping Mercy 55-51 in a game that featured a comeback from each team. Trailing in each of the first two quarters, Daemen came out of the halftime break on a scoring rampage (beating the Mavericks 21-9 in the third quarter). But after taking an 11-point lead, the Wildcats could not keep the ball in their side of the court, and Mercy took advantage of fouls and turnovers to go on an 11-2 run to bring the game within one point in the final 30 seconds. Three well-shot free throws from senior guard Gabby McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.) staved off the late Mercy comeback to win the game by four and extend Daemen's win streak to 16 games over the Mavericks. After scoring 12 of Daemen's 21 points in the Wildcats' high scoring third quarter, senior guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) finished the game with a team-high 20 points. Senior forward Natalie Angeletti (Panama, N.Y.) totaled 10 points in the win.

REGIONAL POLL
Daemen moved to ninth in the East Region in the Week 9 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.

THE ROAD TO 200
Head coach Jenepher Banker is just three wins away from collecting her 200th career win as a head coach. Banker entered the 2023-24 season with a 187-121 record, and comes into this weekend with 197 total wins and 126 losses. In her eight seasons at the helm of the Wildcats, Banker has compiled a 130-65 overall record including an 88-30 ECC record as head coach.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will travel across town to play at D'Youville next Sunday, Feb. 4 in a 1 PM match up.

THE LIONS
Picked eighth out of nine in the ECC Preseason Coaches Poll, Molloy comes into Friday's game with an 8-8 overall record and a 3-3 record in ECC play, and are riding a five game win streak after picking up non-conference wins over Adelphi, Caldwell and American International and ECC victories over Queens and Roberts Wesleyan this month. Averaging 62.8 points per game, the Lions are led offensively by senior guard Trinity Hudson who averages 14.6 ppg and a league-high 12.2 rebounds per game. In Molloy's 60-45 loss to Daemen earlier this season, the Wildcats held Hudson to just seven points after going 3-for-10 from the field. 6-foot-2 junior center Danielle Hippner leads the league with 54 total blocks on the year, averaging 3.4 blocks per game.

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats own an 18-4 all-time record over Molloy, and have won the last eight match ups, including topping the Lions 60-45 on Dec. 8, 2023.

THE KNIGHTS
Queens enters the weekend with a 5-12 overall record and a 1-5 record in the ECC. The Knights picked up their first conference victory of the season last Friday, topping Roberts Wesleyan 68-59. Queens averages 53 points per game while allowing their opponents to score an average of 61.8 points on the year. A trio Knights are averaging double-digit points this season, with 5-foot-8 sophomore guard Brianna Davis leading the way with 13.9 ppg along with a team-high 42 steals (2.5 steals per game). 6-foot freshman forward Nkiru Awaka averages 12.4 ppg and a team-high 9.4 rebounds per game, while freshman guard Jalea Abrams is averaging 11.5 ppg. The Knights were picked sixth out of nine in the ECC Preseason Coaches Poll.

SERIES HISTORY
Daemen has won 10 straight games against Queens and owns a 10-9 series record over the Knights. The Wildcats won the last meeting 78-58 on Dec. 10.

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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