Tayla Barros brings the ball down the court against UB

Geoff Schneider

Women's Basketball To Take On Gannon, St. Michael's This Week

11/12/2024 12:25:00 PM

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

JUMP BALL
The Daemen University women's basketball team will play two games during the week, first trekking to Erie, Pa. to play their second straight nationally-ranked team in #11/#5 Gannon University on Wednesday evening in a 7 PM tilt. The Wildcats will make their Lumsden Gymnasium debut on Sunday, Nov. 17 as they welcome St. Michael's College for a noon tip-off. The Wildcats are in the hunt for their first win of the young season and come in with an 0-2 record. Gannon is 5-0 on the year and St. Michael's is 2-0.

LAST WEEKEND AT THE REDHAWKS CLASSIC
The Wildcats dropped both of their games at the Redhawks Classic in tight match ups over the weekend, falling first in a 55-59 decision against Felician University in the season opener on Friday night before dropping a 72-77 heart breaker in double-overtime to #20#14 Assumption University on Saturday. Graduate student Danielle DiCintio (Somers, N.Y.) led all players with 25 points on the weekend after scoring a season-high 22 points including banking five three-pointers against the Greyhounds. Juniors Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) and Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) both totaled 22 points and 12 rebounds this weekend. Lapertosa leads the Wildcats shooting 40.5% from the field through the first two games of the season.

REGIONAL RANKINGS
After being ranked fourth in the East Region in the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Preseason Rankings released last week, Daemen dropped to ninth in the region in the first weekly poll, released on Monday afternoon. The East Region consists of teams from the East Coast Conference, Northeast 10 Conference and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. The Wildcats were ranked in the East Region poll throughout the season in 2023-24.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST SEASON
The Wildcat women posted a 23-8 overall record en route to their second East Region title. Daemen went 13-3 in ECC play and earned their third consecutive ECC Tournament title and fifth straight ECC regular season championship and kept the victories alive throughout the playoffs, taking down No. 3 seed Saint Rose 52-47 in the regional quarterfinals, No. 2 seed Assumption 68-58 in the semifinals, and No. 4 seed Jefferson 69-62 in the regional championship game. The Wildcats fell to No. 2 seed Texas Woman's University in the Elite Eight in St. Joseph, Mo.

WHO'S GONE
Daemen is without three of the winningest Wildcats in program history who were all lost to graduation in Natalie Angeletti, Kaytlyn Matz, and D2CCA Second Team All-American and D2CCA All-Region Player of the Year Alahna Paige, who also was named the 2024 ECC Player of the Year after an outstanding senior campaign where she finished as ranked second in total three-point field goals and three-point field goals made per game (3.26) among the Division II national leaders. Paige set a Daemen record with 101 made three-point field goals and totaled 666 points (fourth-most in program history and first in Daemen's Division II era). The Wildcats also graduated Gabby McDuffie, who earned Second Team All-ECC honors in 2024.

NEW LOOK CATS
Seven players return for the Wildcats, including 2024 Third Team All-ECC forward Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) and Daemen's top rebounder Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.). Pikett put together a standout sophomore campaign, starting all 31 games and ranked third in scoring (8.4 ppg) and rebounding (4.1 per game). Lapertosa averaged 6.8 boards per game and led the Wildcats with 38 total blocks last season. The Wildcats added seven players in the off-season, five freshmen and two transfers, to bring the roster to 15. Daemen added graduate transfer Danielle DiCintio (Somers, N.Y.) who spent her undergraduate career at Roberts Wesleyan and earned Third Team All-ECC honors a season ago after leading the ECC in three-point percentage (40.3).

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will travel to play at Chestnut Hill next Thursday, Nov. 21 and return home on Sunday, Nov. 24 to host Saint Anselm.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Like the Wildcats, Gannon is coming off an Atlantic Region title and a trip to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight after putting together a 35-3 overall record. The top-ranked Golden Knights were upset in their Elite Eight game, falling to No. 8 seed Cal St. San Marcos 80-85 in overtime to cut their trip to the National Championship short. Coming into Wednesday's game with a 5-0 record, Gannon returns three of their top five scorers from 2023-24 including 5-foot-7 junior guard Bri Claxon who is second on the team this season with 15.8 ppg while shooting 40% from the field. 6-foot sophomore guard Kate Ratliff leads the team with 17 ppg while shooting 51% from the field and lead the team with 6.6 rebounds per game and eight steals and nine blocks. 5-foot-11 guard Maddy Wheatley averages 11.8 ppg and 6.4 rebounds per game, and 5-foot-7 junior guard Carissa Duhnam is the fourth and final Golden Knight to average double-digit points this season with 10.6.

SERIES HISTORY
Gannon owns a 10-6 all-time series record over the Wildcats.

SCOUTING THE PURPLE KNIGHTS
St. Michael's picked up two big wins to open up the 2024-25 campaign, topping Bloomfield 83-57 in their season opener and beating Post 76-49 in the Windjammer Tip-Off Classic over the weekend. The Purple Knights are already 1/3 of the way to their 2023-24 record of wins (6-23) this season. Four players are averaging double-digit points for SMC this season, with 5-foot-5 senior guard Brianna Furch leading the Purple Knights offensively, shooting 43.3% from the field with 18.5 ppg and a team-high eight assists. Her younger sister Amber Furch, a sophomore guard, is averaging 13 ppg. 5-foot-9 sophomore forward Jayla Tyler leads the Purple Knights with 13.5 rebounds per game and averages 12 ppg while 5-foot-10 senior guard Molly Brophy averages 10.5 ppg.

SERIES HISTORY
Daemen is 4-3 all-time over the Purple Knights and has won the past two meetings between the two teams.

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, Instagram at @DaemenWBB

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