Geoff Schneider

Women's Basketball Heads Back To Philadelphia For Sunday Afternoon Game At Holy Family

11/29/2024 10:30:00 AM

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

ROAD WARRIORS
The Daemen University women's basketball team heads down to Philadelphia for the second time this season to take on the Holy Family Tigers in a 1 PM match up on Sunday, Dec. 1. The Wildcats come into the game on a three-game winning streak and are 3-3 on the year while Holy Family saw their six-game win streak snapped on Tuesday and enter with a 6-1 overall record.

STREAKING
After winning their first game of the season in a 67-49 win over Saint Michael's on Nov. 17, the Wildcats won both games last week with a 20-point victory over Chestnut Hill on the road last Thursday and a big 55-49 win over Saint Anselm on Sunday at Lumsden Gymnasium. In the 73-53 win against CHC, Daemen graduate student guard Danielle DiCintio (Somers, N.Y.) led all players with 22 points after going 6-of-9 beyond the arc. Junior guard Joline Raposo (Tampa, Fla.) chipped in a season-high 14 points while junior forward Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) added 13 points and pulled down her first double-double of the year with 16 rebounds. The Wildcats shot 31.5% from the field but an impressive season-high 42.3% beyond the arc, knocking down 11-of-26 for three. Daemen picked up the program's first win over Saint Anselm and completed the comeback after the Hawks led for 70% of the game. The Wildcats scored 21 points in the fourth quarter and closed out the game scoring 11 unanswered points. Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.), Shyla Montgomery (Brockton, Mass.) and Sophie Auer (Lewiston, N.Y.) combined for 38 points as Pikett totaled 16, Montgomery finished with 12 and Auer totaled 10 points. Daemen took advantage of Saint Anselm mistakes, forcing 26 turnovers and scoring 29 points off turnovers. The Wildcats committed 12 turnovers of their own but that led to just five points for St. A's.

DE-FENSE
Head coach Jenepher Banker has coached the Wildcats to a stout defense in her eight years at the helm. In Daemen's run to their second East Region Championship and Elite Eight appearance in 2023-24, the Wildcats held their opponents to an average of 58.6 points per game while shooting .370 from the field and .292 beyond the arc. This season, the Wildcats are holding opponents to an average of 57 ppg and have twice allowed just 49 points to be scored on them.

TRIPLE THREAT
A trio of Wildcats are averaging 10+ points per game this season. Scoring in the double figures in five of six games this season, Lapertosa leads the Wildcats offensively with 10.7 points per game and is shooting 41.3% from the field while also leading Daemen with 8.5 rebounds per game. The East Coast Conference's three-point percentage leader last season, DiCintio has scored 22 points in two games this season and averages 10.3 ppg. She leads the Wildcats beyond the arc with 17 of 44 triples for a 38.6% shooting percentage. Auer, who's scored in the double figures in four games, averages 10 ppg while shooting 40% from the field.

UP NEXT
Daemen will open up ECC play next weekend (Dec. 6/8) on the road. The Wildcats will travel to Staten Island to play the Dolphins on Friday, Dec. 6 in a 5:30 PM game then travel down to the nation's capital for a 1 PM game at District of Columbia on Dec. 8.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Ranking fourth in the East Region in the most recent Division II College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) Regional Media Poll, Holy Family opened up the 2024-25 season with a perfect 6-0 record after beating three ECC teams (Staten Island, UDC and St. Thomas Aquinas) and picked up a big six-point victory over No. 12 Assumption on Saturday. The Tigers were upended by Bloomsburg on Tuesday, 57-48, and come into Sunday's match up with a 6-1 record. 5-foot-10 junior guard Taylor Hinkle leads the Tigers with 11.1 ppg and 9.3 rebounds per game while 5-foot-8 junior guard Skyler Searfoss is averaging 8.9 ppg while shooting 47.2% from the field.

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats are 0-4 all-time against Holy Family. This will be the first time that the Wildcats and Tigers meet since 2014.

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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