Skip To Main Content

Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
WBB Senior Day 2024
51
D'Youville DYO 9-17,7-8 ECC
67
Winner Daemen Daemen 17-7,12-3 ECC
D'Youville DYO
9-17,7-8 ECC
51
Final
67
Daemen Daemen
17-7,12-3 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
D'Youville DYO 13 9 13 16 51
Daemen Daemen 15 21 20 11 67

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

Wildcats Earn Share Of ECC Regular Season Title With 67-51 Victory Over Saints

AMHERST, N.Y. -- The Daemen University women's basketball earned a first-round bye and a share of the East Coast Conference regular season title with a 67-51 win over the D'Youville University Saints on Sunday afternoon. Daemen moves to 17-7 overall and 12-3 in ECC play on the year, while the Saints drop to 9-15 overall and 7-8 in conference games. With the win, the ECC-leading Wildcats regain a one-game lead over St. Thomas Aquinas and Mercy who are tied for second in the league with an 11-4 record. The Spartans and Mavericks will play each other in the regular season finale this week.

Despite a close first quarter where the Wildcats led just 15-13 over the Saints, Daemen went on a tear in the second and third quarters, outscoring D'Youville 41 to 24, and held onto an extensive lead throughout the rest of the game. The Wildcats shot an impressive 46.7% in this game, going 28-of-60 from the field and 31.8% beyond the arc (7-of-22). A trio of Daemen players scored in the double-digits today, with the ECC's leading scorer Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) pacing the Cats with 23 points after the senior guard shot 43% from the field (9-of-21) and 56% (5-of-9) from beyond the arc. On her senior day, senior guard Gabby McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.) finished with 19 points after shooting 62% from the field (8-of-13), while sophomore forward Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) totaled 10 points while shooting 67% from the field (4-of-6). 

Prior to today's tip-off, Daemen honored three players on Senior Day, with seniors Natalie Angeletti (Panama, N.Y.), Kaytlyn Matz (Johnsburg, Ill.) and Gabby McDuffie being celebrated in their final regular season home game of their careers. The Wildcats will travel to Rochester, N.Y. next Saturday to take on the Roberts Wesleyan Redhawks in the regular season finale. A win over Roberts would solidify their fourth straight ECC regular season title for Daemen.

IMPACT PLAYERS
  • On top of Paige's 23-point performance, the senior guard pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and added three assists in 38 minutes of play. After breaking Daemen's single-season three point field goal record in Thursday's win over UDC, Paige added five more triples this afternoon.
  • McDuffie shot 60%+ from the field for the fourth time this season, going 62% from the field while adding five rebounds, five assists and one block in her 19-point outing on Senior Day.
  • Matz finished with five points, five rebounds and two blocks, while Angeletti added five rebounds and two steals on their Senior Day.
GAME NOTES
  • Daemen is 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.
  • The Wildcats and Saints were scoreless through the first two minutes of game play. D'Youville got on the board first with a jumper, but 30 seconds later McDuffie scored a jumper to tie the game up. The Cats and Saints traded points to six apiece, but the Wildcats took the lead with a triple from Paige and never looked trailed again. Daemen freshman Sophie Auer (Lewiston, N.Y.) banked a layup in the final 20 seconds of the game to give the Wildcats a 15-13 lead after the first 10 minutes of play. The Wildcats shot 53% (7-of-13) from the field in the first with McDuffie and Paige combining for 11 of Daemen's 15 first-quarter points.
  • Daemen came out of the gate swinging in the second, out-scoring the Saints 17-2 to in the first half of the quarter after opening the second shooting 7-of-11 from the field and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. The Wildcats rounded out the quarter outscoring the Saints 21-9 while shooting 53% in the second.
  • Paige and McDuffie each scored seven points in Daemen's third quarter, combining for 14 of the Wildcats' 20 third-quarter points as the Wildcats shot 50% from the field, going 8-of-16 and 2-of-3 beyond the arc. Daemen led 56-35 after three quarters of play.
  • Daemen and D'Youville traded points to open the fourth, with Daemen taking a 9-7 lead after the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, but after the Cats took a 65-42 lead over the Saints, D'Youville went on a 9-2 run to close out the game. D'Youville outscored Daemen 16-11 in the final quarter of play. Both teams shot 4-of-13 from the field in the quarter.
  • The Wildcats out-rebounded D'Youville 37-33 in the game and pulled down 29 defensive boards.
  • Daemen remains ranked 8th in the latest Division II College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) East Region poll.
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.
Print Friendly Version