AMHERST, N.Y. – Daemen University senior guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) became the 28^th player in Daemen women's basketball history to record 1,000 career points as the Wildcats fell to Mercy University 50-44 on Sunday afternoon. With the loss, Daemen moves to 15-7 on the year and remains atop the East Coast Conference standings with a 10-3 conference record. Mercy improves to 16-8 and 9-4 in ECC action while moving up to second in the ECC, one game behind the Wildcats.
 
Just like the first time these two teams played earlier this season, the Wildcats and Mavericks played close to the very end. Where the Wildcats benefited from free throws down the stretch in the first meeting in January, the Mavericks won the game on free throws today, scoring six points from the charity stripe in the final minute and a half of the game.
 
Daemen shot 27% from the field (17-of-62) and connected on just two of 17 triples in the game. Mercy led for 94% of the game and shot 31% (17-of-54) from the field while banking one of 11 three balls. The Mavericks out-rebounded Daemen 45 to 33 on the day. Today's loss snapped a 16-game win streak for the Wildcats over the Mavericks, a streak that dated back to February 13, 2016. 
 
The Wildcats remain at Lumsden Gymnasium for a pair of games this week, hosting District of Columbia on Thursday (Feb. 22) at 5:30 PM and D'Youville on Sunday (Feb. 25) at noon for the Wildcats' senior day celebration.
 
IMPACT PLAYERS

• Coming off a career-high 36 point night in Daemen's 68-64 win over St. Thomas Aquinas on Friday night, Paige totaled 20 points for the 11^th game this season after shooting 7-of-27 from the field, 4-for-4 from the charity stripe and was the only Wildcat to make a triple today, going 2-of-11 from beyond the arc. She added five defensive rebounds, one assist and one steal in 37 minutes on the floor. Scoring her 1,000^th career point today, the senior guard has scored 1,010 points over her very successful four-year Daemen career.
• Sophomore forward Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) shot 3-of-10 from the field and totaled eight points while pulling down a team-high seven rebounds, six offensive boards, two steals, one block and one assist on the day.
• Senior guard Gabby McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.) scored eight points after going 4-of-12 from the field and pulled down six rebounds – including three offensive boards – along with two steals and one assist.
• Mercy's Jaclyn Stanavich totaled a team-high 20 points for the Mavericks. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Today's loss snapped Daemen's 23-game home win streak that dated back to the 2021-22 season and was the sixth-longest home court winning streak among Division II women's basketball programs.
• Daemen entered today's match up ranked eighth in the Division II College Sports Commucators (D2CSC) Regional Poll. 
• Just like in the first meeting between these two teams this season, Mercy got out to a quick start, leading the Wildcats 13-6 after the first quarter. The Mavericks held Paige scoreless in the first while Daemen made just two field goals in the first 10 minutes of play.
• The Cats turned up the heat in the second, outscoring Mercy 15-9 while holding the Mavs to just two field goals in the quarter to cut the Mercy lead to just one at the half, 22-21 after Natalie Angeletti (Panama, N.Y.) banked a buzzer-beater layup.
• Paige led the Wildcats with seven points at the half.
• The third quarter was lower scoring. After Mercy scored the first four points of the quarter, Daemen went on an 8-2 run and took their first lead of the day, 29-28, after a pull up jumper from Paige which marked the 1,000^th point of her career. The Mavs scored five of the last seven points of the quarter to take a 33-31 lead into the final 10 minutes of play.
• Mercy and Daemen were evenly matched in the fourth quarter, trading points throughout the quarter while keeping the game close. The Mavericks banked six free throws in the final minute and a half of the game to seal the deal, 50-44.
• Daemen totaled 20 points off Mercy's 24 turnovers on the day.
• Paige is just two triples away from breaking Daemen's single-season three point field goal record, and one away from tying the record (77).

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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.

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