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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
Paige breaks three point record
Geoff Schneider
68
Dist. Columbia UDC 16-9,8-5 ECC
82
Winner Daemen Daemen 16-7,11-3 ECC
Dist. Columbia UDC
16-9,8-5 ECC
68
Final
82
Daemen Daemen
16-7,11-3 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Dist. Columbia UDC 18 13 18 19 68
Daemen Daemen 21 23 21 17 82

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

Paige Breaks Single-Season Record As Wildcats Take Down Firebirds 82-68

AMHERST, N.Y. – With her second triple in the first half, senior guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) broke the Daemen women's basketball program record for single-season three-point field goals with her 78th triple of the season as the Daemen University women's basketball team pulled away for a huge 82-68 victory over the University of District of Columbia on Thursday night at Lumsden Gymnasium.
 
With the win, the Wildcats move to 16-7 overall and 11-3 in East Coast Conference play, while the Firebirds move to 16-9 on the year and 8-5 in ECC games. Daemen remains atop the ECC standings, and tonight's win moved the Wildcats one full game ahead of Mercy and St. Thomas Aquinas who are tied for second in the league with a 10-4 record. UDC sits in fourth in the league at 8-4.
 
Four Wildcats tallied double-digit points with Paige led all players with 24 in the game, while senior Gabby McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.) added 21 points. Sophomore Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) and senior Natalie Angeletti (Panama, N.Y.) totaled 11 points in the victory. Daemen shot 50% from the field (27-of-54) and 36% from beyond the arc (8-of-22), while UDC shot 39% from the field (24-of-61) and 52% (11-of-21) from three in the game.
 
IMPACT PLAYERS

  • After banking her 1,000th point last week, Paige's career-best week continued Thursday night with her record-breaking night. The reigning ECC Player of the Week finished with 24 points after shooting 41% (7-of-17) from the field, 33% (3-of-9) from beyond the arc and 78% (7-of-9) from the charity stripe. Paige pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and added six assists to her stat line.
  • McDuffie shot a season-high 80% (8-of-10) from the field in her 21-point night and went 1-of-2 from beyond the arc while shooting 4-of-5 from the free throw line. The senior guard tallied three steals, two assists and two rebounds.
  • Angeletti finished with 11 points after shooting 4-of-8 from the field, 2-of-5 from beyond the arc and knocking down her sole free throw of the night while tallying four rebounds and one assist.
  • Pikett shot 3-of-9 from the field, 1-of-3 beyond the arc and went 4-of-5 from the free throw line in her 11-point outing, adding six rebounds – two offensive boards – one block and one steal.
  • Sophomore guard Shyla Montgomery (Brockton, Mass.) played tremendous defense tonight, tallying four steals, two blocks, three assists and two rebounds along with four points. 

GAME NOTES

  • The Wildcats are one of 10 teams in the East Region that are under consideration in the first NCAA Division II Regional Rankings, released on Wednesday evening. This was the first of three regional rankings, and the regional rankings are used to determine at-large bids to the East Regional portion of the NCAA Tournament following conference tournaments at the end of the season.
  • Daemen and UDC opened the game trading points. A floating jumper by Paige tied the first quarter up at 15, and from there, the Wildcats went on a 6-3 run to end the first up 21-18.
  • The Wildcats were draining buckets in the second, outscoring the Firebirds 23-13 after shooting 61% from the field (8-of-13) and banking 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. In the final four minutes of the first half, the Wildcats went on a 12-4 run that included Paige's record-breaking triple, to take a 44-31 lead over UDC at the half. Paige led all players with 17 first-half points.
  • UDC opened the third on a 9-4 run, bringing the game within eight points after knocking down 3-of-8 triples in the first three minutes. The momentum shifted from there, with Daemen taking a 10-3 run of their own as McDuffie posted three layups to lift the Wildcats up by 15, 58-43. The Wildcats and Firebirds traded points in the final two minutes and Daemen headed into the final quarter up 65-49. The Wildcats shot 80% (8-of-10) in the third quarter.
  • The Firebirds didn't lay up in the fourth, and even after the Wildcats went on an 8-2 run to kickstart the fourth with a 71-53 lead, UDC outscored the Wildcats 17-9 down the stretch. UDC's Laci Johnson scored 10 of her 16 points of the day in that stretch as the Firebirds shot 58% (7-of-12) and 3-of-3 from three-point land in the fourth quarter, while the Wildcats banked just five of 13 shots in the final quarter.
  • Daemen and UDC split the regular season for the second straight year, with the Wildcats losing to the Firebirds at UDC but winning at home in both seasons. 
  • The Wildcats remain ranked 8th in the latest Division II College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) East Region poll.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will honor three seniors – Natalie Angeletti, Gabby McDuffie and Kaytlyn Matz – on Senior Day for the Wildcats' final home game on Sunday. Senior Day celebrations will begin in pregame prior to Daemen's 12 PM tilt with D'Youville.

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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