Geoff Schneider

Women's Basketball Hosts STAC, Mercy In Big Match Ups This Weekend

2/14/2024 2:55:00 PM

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

JUMP BALL
The Daemen University women's basketball team returns to Lumsden Gymnasium this weekend for a pair of big East Coast Conference home games, hosting St. Thomas Aquinas College on Friday, Feb. 15 in a 5:30 match up and Mercy University on Sunday at noon. The Wildcats come into this weekend as the league-leaders with a 9-2 ECC record after going 14-6 on the year. STAC currently sits in second in the ECC with an 8-3 ECC record and a 14-9 overall record, and the Mavericks come in tied for third in the league at 7-4 with a 14-8 overall record.

LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
The Wildcats put together a 1-1 weekend, first topping Staten Island 71-44 on Friday night after shooting 51% (26-of-51) from the field, 39% (7-of-19) from beyond the arc and knocking down 12-of-16 free throws. The Cats held home team Dolphins to a 25% shooting percentage (17-of-68), 4-of-21 from three-point land and 6-of-10 from the charity stripe. Daemen's standout senior guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) led all players with a 24-point outing after shooting 53% (9-of-17) from the field and going 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. Sophomore forward Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) totaled 14 points after shooting an impressive 83% (5-of-6) from the field and banking both triples while adding seven rebounds. Sophomore forward Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, while junior forward Julia Hauer (Binghamton, N.Y.) totaled nine points after going 4-of-4 from the field. In Sunday's match up against District of Columbia, the Wildcats mounted a big comeback in the second half but fell just short in the final seconds of the game, 71-65, to lose at UDC for the second straight season. Paige once again led the Wildcats, playing all 40 minutes of the game to finish with 17 points after shooting 5-of-18 from the field with four of those buckets coming from triples. Pikett shot 54% (6-of-11) for 15 points, while senior guard Gabby McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y. ) totaled 11 points with a game-high eight rebounds.

EN ROUTE TO 1K
After scoring 417 total points through 20 games this season, Paige is now just 46 points away from her 1,000th career point. Paige would be the 28th player in Daemen women's basketball history to score 1,000 points, and the first 1,000 point players since Katie Titus and Tiara Filbert (2022). The senior standout is averaging a league-high 20.9 points per game (third most in NCAA Division II women's basketball) and ranks fourth in the nation in three pointers per game (3.32). Paige also ranks third in the league in field goal percentage (41.7), leads the ECC in three point field goal percentage (42.9), ranks second in free throw percentage (85.7), and ranks sixth in the league in assists (3.0 per game).

CONFERENCE STANDINGS
With just three weekends left in the regular season, the ECC leader board is pretty top-heavy right now, with the Wildcats just one game ahead for the lead (9-2). STAC sits in second in the conference with an 8-3 ECC record, while UDC and Mercy are tied for third with a 7-4 record. Playing in their first year of postseason eligibility, D'Youville is in fifth at 7-5. Staten Island, Molloy, Queens and Roberts Wesleyan are the final four teams in the league.

1. Daemen (9-2 ECC, 14-6 overall)
2. STAC (8-3 ECC, 14-9 overall)
T3. UDC (7-4 ECC, 15-8 overall)
T3. Mercy (7-4 ECC, 14-8 overall)
5. D'Youville (7-5 ECC, 9-13 overall)
6. Staten Island (5-7 ECC, 8-14 overall)
7. Molloy (4-7 ECC, 9-12 overall)
8. Queens (2-9 ECC, 6-16 overall)
9. Roberts Wesleyan (1-9 ECC, 5-13 overall)

REGIONAL RANKINGS
The Wildcats remain ranked eighth in the Week 12 Division II College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) Regional Poll, released on Monday. The East Region consists of teams from the East Coast Conference, Northeast 10 Conference and the Central Atlantic Athletic Conference. Daemen is the only ECC team represented in the top-10 in the East Region.

PLAY4KAY
Friday night's game against STAC will be Daemen's annual Play4Kay game, raising money and awareness for breast cancer. The Kay Yow Cancer Fund was created by NC State head coach Kay Yow. Through Play4Kay, she saw a way to bring communities together and honor cancer warriors in the fight against ALL cancers affecting women. Uniting players, coaches, officials and fans to do something for the greater good that far exceeds wins and losses in competition, the Play4Kay initiative is the largest fundraiser by the Kay Yow Cancer Fund and plays a major role in the program's success.

UP NEXT
Daemen will host UDC on Thursday, Feb. 22 in a 5:30 match up and finish off their regular season homestand on Sunday, Feb. 25 with a 12 pm game against D'Youville.

THE SPARTANS
Picked as the top team in the 2023-24 ECC Preseason Coaches Poll after finishing second in the regular season and ECC Tournament last season, St. Thomas Aquinas comes into this weekend ranked second in the ECC behind Daemen with an 8-3 conference record and a 14-9 overall record. The Spartans are 2-1 in the month of February, opening the month with a 61-66 loss at Queens but rebounding to top Bridgeport (59-45) and Roberts Wesleyan (67-48) last week. STAC beat Daemen 70-59 in the Jan. 19 meeting, snapping the Wildcats' 14-game ECC win streak. ECC Preseason Player of the Year Sarah Ericson ranks third in the conference in scoring while leading the Spartans with 16.7 points per game with a league-high 43% shooting percentage from the field. Junior forward Erin Leary averages 14.4 ppg and leads the Spartans with 8.3 rebounds per game, a .430 field goal percentage and shoots 37% from beyond the arc.

SERIES HISTORY
The Spartans own a 14-9 overall record over Daemen. STAC topped the Wildcats 66-61 in the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 19. Ericson led all players with 30 points in the victory for the Spartans.

THE MAVERICKS
Selected fourth in the league in the ECC Preseason Coaches Poll after posting a third place finish in the 2022-23 regular season, Mercy comes into this weekend's game with a 14-8 overall record and is tied for third in the conference with a 7-4 ECC record. The Mavericks have gone 5-2 since their 51-55 loss to Daemen on Jan. 21. Mercy has the second-best scorer in the league behind Paige, with graduate guard Katie Wall is averaging 16.8 ppg and is shooting 36% from the field while averaging 2.3 triples per game. 5-foot-8 junior forward Jaclyn Stanavich is averaging 15.7 ppg and 6.3 boards per game, and shoots 42% from the field. Sunday's game will be a battle of the two best defenses in the ECC, with the Mavericks leading the lead with 58.1 points per game, while the Wildcats are averaging 58.3 points per game this season. In the first meeting this season, the Wildcats mounted a second-half comeback and staved off a late run from the Mavericks to win 55-51.

SERIES HISTORY
Over the 21-game series history, Daemen has won 19 games over the Mavericks, winning the last 16 match ups.

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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