Regular Season Finale At Roberts Wesleyan On Tap For Wildcats

3/1/2024 9:51:00 AM

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

JUMP BALL
The Daemen University women's basketball team will travel to Rochester, N.Y. on Saturday, March 2 to play in their regular season finale in a 2 PM match up at Roberts Wesleyan. The Wildcats come into the final game of the regular season with a 17-7 overall record and a 12-4 record in East Coast Conference play, while the Redhawks sit at 7-16 overall and 3-12 in ECC games.

MILESTONE WEEK
Daemen senior guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) put together a milestone week last week, first becoming the 28th player in Daemen women's basketball history to score 1,000 career points against the Mercy Mavericks on Sunday, Feb. 18. In Thursday's big 82-68 win over District of Columbia, Paige's second of three triples broke the Daemen women's basketball program record for single-season three-point field goals with her 78th triple of the season. Raeann Stillwell (2013-14) previously held the Daemen record of 77 three point field goals for 10 years. Paige sits at 84 triples on the year. The senior guard is averaging a league-high 21.7 ppg, the third-most in NCAA Division II women's basketball. Paige broke the 10-year Daemen program record for single-season three point field goals, and became the 28th player in Daemen women's basketball history to record 1,000 points. She leads the league in three-point percentage (41.8%), and ranks second in the nation with 3.5 triples per game.

LAST WEEK'S ACTION
The Wildcats wrapped up their final regular season homestand with a pair of victories over UDC and D'Youville. On top of Paige's record-breaking night against the Firebirds, the Wildcats broke open the game in the second quarter where they out-scored UDC 23-10 and never looked back, shooting 50% from the field (27-of-54) and 36% from beyond the arc (8-of-22), with four Daemen players totaling double-digit points. Paige led the way with 24, 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. The Wildcats honored three seniors -- McDuffie, Angeletti and Kaytlyn Matz (Johnsburg, Ill.) in Sunday's Senior Day celebration, and to cap off a celebratory day, Daemen topped D'Youville 67-51 to earn a share of the ECC regular season title and first-round bye in the upcoming ECC Tournament. 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 Paige, the ECC's leading scorer, 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, McDuffie finished with 19 points after shooting 62% from the field (8-of-13), while Pikett totaled 10 points while shooting 67% from the field (4-of-6).

CONFERENCE STANDINGS
It all comes down to this weekend!! The ECC leader board is top-heavy right now as the Wildcat sit atop the conference at 12-3, one game ahead of Mercy and STAC (both 11-4) who are tied for second in the ECC. UDC is one game back from the Mavericks and Spartans. Staten Island (7-8) overtook D'Youville (7-9) for fifth in the league after the Saints dropped their fifth straight on Wednesday night. Molloy, Roberts Wesleyan and Queens are the final three teams in the league. STAC and Mercy play each other in their regular season finale on Saturday. The top six teams get into the ECC Tournament, which kicks off on Wednesday, March 6.

1. Daemen (12-3 ECC, 17-7 overall)
T2. Mercy (11-4 ECC, 18-8 overall)
T2. STAC (11-4 ECC, 17-10 overall)
4. UDC (10-5 ECC, 18-9 overall)
5. Staten Island (7-8 ECC, 10-16 overall)
6. D'Youville (7-9 ECC, 9-17 overall)
7. Molloy (4-11 ECC, 10-16 overall)
8. Roberts Wesleyan (3-12 ECC, 7-16 overall)
9. Queens (3-12 ECC, 7-19 overall)

REGIONAL RANKINGS
The Wildcats are ranked seventh in the East Region in the second NCAA Division II Regional Rankings, released on Wednesday afternoon. It marks the second of three polls that will be released by the Regional Advisory Committee. The NCAA announces 10-team rankings for each of the eight regions across the country for three successive weeks leading up to the NCAA Championship selection announcement, which will be made this year on Sunday, March 10. Assumption (22-4), Bentley (22-5), Saint Rose (20-5), Southern New Hampshire (17-8) and Thomas Jefferson (25-1) are the top five teams, while Franklin Pierce (17-9), Daemen (17-7), Pace (17-10), St. Thomas Aquinas (17-10) and Southern Connecticut State (16-11) round out the top 10.

UP NEXT
Daemen has their sights set on the ECC Tournament next weekend. With a win over the Redhawks on Saturday, Daemen will win their fifth consecutive ECC regular season title and will host the ECC Tournament semifinals and championship game next Saturday and Sunday (March 9-10) at Lumsden Gymnasium.

THE REDHAWKS
Roberts Wesleyan comes into the season finale with a 7-16 overall record and a 3-12 ECC record and snapped a two game skid with a 59-45 win over D'Youville on Wednesday night to win their third conference game of the year. Averaging 63.9 points per game (fourth-most in the ECC), the Redhawks are led offensively by junior guards Danielle Dicintio and Georgia Haverlock who average 12.8 and 12.6 ppg, respectively. DiCintio ranks second in the league behind only Paige with a 40.1 three-point field goal percentage and averages 3.0 triples per game. 6-foot sophomore forward Grace Dow leads the Redhawks on the boards with 6.6 rebounds per game (10th-most in the ECC) while Haverlock is averaging 5.7 boards per game.

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats are 54-25 all-time against the Redhawks and have won seven straight games over Roberts.

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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