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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
Claire Pikett prepares to shoot during Dec. 13 game against St. Thomas Aquinas
44
Mercy Mercy 6-5,2-1 ECC
58
Winner Daemen Daemen 8-3,4-0 ECC
Mercy Mercy
6-5,2-1 ECC
44
Final
58
Daemen Daemen
8-3,4-0 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Mercy Mercy 11 4 13 16 44
Daemen Daemen 21 10 12 15 58

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | CONTACT: Mary Margaret Johnson, Director of Athletics Communications | mmjohnso@daemen.edu

Women's Basketball Dominates In 58-44 Win Over Mercy

AMHERST, N.Y. – Eight in a row!! In a rematch of the 2024 East Coast Conference Tournament Championship game, the Daemen University women's basketball team won their eighth straight game of the season in a 58-44 victory over Mercy University to move to 8-3 on the year. Daemen remains undefeated in ECC play with a 4-0 record, while Mercy moves to 6-5 overall and 2-1 in ECC action.
 
After Mercy took a 4-0 lead, the Wildcats put together a hot first quarter and held onto the lead for the rest of the game despite being outscored by a point in the final two quarters. Daemen shot 33.9% from the field after going 21-of-62 and banking 8-of-27 beyond the arc in the game. A trio of Wildcats scored in the double figures today, with Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) and Danielle DiCintio (Somers, N.Y.) each tallying 17 points for the second consecutive game.
 
Today marked the final home game for the Wildcats in 2024. Daemen is headed to warmer weather for their final two games of the fall semester as they are set to jet off to the Hawaiian Islands to play a pair of games in the Hoops in Hawaii Classic in Honolulu! The Cats will take on Alaska Anchorage and Hawaii Pacific on Friday, Dec. 20 and 21, respectively.
 
IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Pikett notched her first career double-double after finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds. The junior forward was 5-of-18 from the field and 3-of-6 beyond the arc while leading the Wildcats in rebounds and adding two blocks, two assists and two steals.
  • DiCintio knocked down five field goals and all were beyond the arc to finish with 17 points. She snagged three defensive boards, doled out five assists and had one steal on the day.
  • Making her first career start, freshman Ne'vaeh Buntley (Rochester, N.Y.) finished with double-digit points for the second game this season, totaling 10 after shooting 5-of-16 from the field. She pulled down eight rebounds, two assists and one steal. 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Mercy scored the first two baskets of the game, but over the next five minutes, the Wildcats went on a 14-4 run with DiCintio and Pikett each draining a pair of triples and Pikett adding a floater to give Daemen the 14-8 advantage with three minutes left in the quarter. The Wildcats gave up just one Mercy basket in the final minutes of the first while adding seven more points, including two layups in the last 23 seconds of the quarter, and led 21-11 after the first.
  • The second quarter was all about defense and was a low-scoring affair. The Wildcats held Mercy scoreless for the first five minutes of the quarter and allowed just one Maverick field goal in the second. Both teams combined for just 14 total points with Daemen outscoring Mercy 10-4. Daemen took a 31-15 lead into the break.
  • Both teams traded points back and forth through the third quarter with Mercy narrowly outscoring Daemen 13-12. The Wildcats maintained a large lead and took a 43-28 advantage to the final 10 minutes of play.
  • The Mavericks never got closer than nine points within Daemen despite opening the fourth quarter with a 15-9 advantage. The Wildcats took the game 58-44.
GAME NOTES
  • The Wildcats are ranked 10th in the East Region in the latest Division II College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) regional poll, as released on Monday.
  • Mercy was selected first in the ECC Preseason Poll and senior guard Jaclyn Stanavich was named the ECC Preseason Player of the Year.
  • Daemen extends their win streak to eight games, matching their longest win streak from the 2023-24 season that spanned from late February through the playoffs and ended in a loss to Texas Woman's in the 2024 Elite Eight.  
  • The Cats are now 21-3 all-time against Mercy.
  • Every single Wildcat that entered the game notched a rebound. Daemen out-rebounded the Mavericks 44 to 38 on the day.
  • Daemen forced 14 Mercy turnovers and capitalized on 13 points off turnovers. The Wildcats committed 9 turnovers but did not give up a single point off lost balls.
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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