Sixth-Seeded Women's Basketball Opens Regional Play With Quarterfinal Game Against Three-Seed Saint Rose

3/14/2024 8:41:00 AM

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

TIME TO DANCE!
The Daemen University women's basketball team continues postseason play, heading to Waltham, Mass. where they will play in the NCAA Division II Tournament this weekend. The Wildcats garnered the No. 6 seed in the eight-team East Regional, and will play the No. 3 seed Saint Rose Golden Knights in the quarterfinal game on Friday afternoon. Daemen, who has been a staple in the East Regional since punching their ticket to the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament in 2020, will be making their fifth straight appearance (2020-24) in the tournament, while Saint Rose is making its first appearance in the tournament since 2011 and 11th all-time trip to the postseason in program history. Daemen and Saint Rose will kick off the East Regional on Friday, playing in the first game of the tournament at noon. The entire East Regional is being held at the Dana Center on the campus of top-seeded Bentley University in Waltham, Mass.

THREEPEAT
Eighth year head coach Jenepher Banker led the Wildcats to their third straight East Coast Conference tournament title at Lumsden Gymnasium over the weekend. The Wildcats entered the conference tournament as the top seed after winning their fifth straight ECC regular season title with a 13-3 record in conference play this season, but the road to their third conference title was anything but easy. Daemen squared off against No. 4 seed District of Columbia in the first semifinal game on Saturday afternoon in what would turn out to be an all-time thriller in Lumsden!! Down 47-40 going into the final 10 minutes of the game, the Wildcats leaned on none other than the 2024 ECC Player of the Year Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) who knocked down a buzzer-beater triple in the final three seconds of the game to give Daemen the 69-66 win. After shooting 35% (15-of-42) through the first three quarters, the Wildcats went off in the fourth quarter, shooting 9-of-15 from the field (60%) and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc in the final 10 minutes of play. Paige, who entered the fourth with just nine points after going 2-of-11 from the field, scored 14 fourth-quarter points, knocking down both Daemen triples of the final quarter including the game-winner. Senior guard Gabby McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.) added 18 points for the Wildcats, with 10 points coming in the final quarter of play. The senior leadership of guards McDuffie and Paige combined for 24 of Daemen's 29 fourth-quarter points.

Sunday's ECC Championship game against No. 2 Mercy was no walk in the park for the Wildcats either. After opening the game down 7-2, the Wildcats went on an 8-2 run to end the first quarter down just one point, 10-9. Daemen and Mercy traded points throughout the second, and after Daemen took a 22-18 lead with two minutes left in the half, the Mavericks scored four unanswered points to tie the game up at 22 at the half. Just like the first two quarters between these top two teams, Daemen and Mercy played even, with both teams banking 14 points in the quarter after knocking down six shots from the field. Mercy went 6-of-14 while the Wildcats went 6-of-15 but both were 1-of-4 from beyond the arc in the third, and the Wildcats and Mavericks were tied up at 36 going into the final 10 minutes of play. Mercy led by as much as eight points in the final six minutes, 48-40, but from there, Daemen scored 12 unanswered points to garner a lead with one minute left, and with clutch free throws from Julia Hauer (Binghamton, N.Y.), Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) and Paige down the stretch, the Wildcats held on to win their third straight ECC Tournament title on their home court. After totaling 27 points against the Mavericks and 23 against the Firebirds in the tournament, Paige was named the 2024 ECC Tournament Most Outstanding Player. McDuffie and sophomore guard Shyla Montgomery (Brockton, Mass.) both were named to the All-Tournament Team as well.

DAEMEN IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
The Wildcats are dancing for the fifth straight year after earning the ECC's automatic bid with the tournament championship victory. Daemen is 4-3 all-time in NCAA Tournament play, going 2-1 in both 2021 and 2022. Daemen won the program's first ever East Region title and trip to the Elite Eight in 2021, and made it back to the East Region championship game where they fell in a two-point heartbreaker to Pace in the 2022 tournament. The Wildcats advanced to the East Regional in 2023 but fell to No. 6 Jefferson in the quarterfinals.

THE 2023-24 SEASON AT A GLANCE
Daemen put together an 18-7 overall record and 13-3 record in ECC games this season and sat towards the top of the conference in multiple categories throughout the season, leading the conference in winning percentage (72.0) and field goal percentage (40.6) and ranking second in scoring offense (64.9 points per game), scoring margin (6.6), three point percentage (33.5), free throw percentage (74.3), and scoring defense (58.3). The Wildcats opened the year with a loss to #18 Bentley, but responded with three non-conference wins before traveling down to Florida where they dropped a pair of games to Palm Beach Atlantic and Nova Southeastern. Daemen opened ECC play with a 23-point win over Roberts Wesleyan, and continued their conference domination with a 15-point win at Molloy and a 20-point win at Queens. Over winter break, the Wildcats picked up a big win at Saint Michael's, and picked up the program's first top-five win on Jan. 3, taking down #5 Ferris State 61-56 at home. Daemen dropped their final non-conference game of the season at Indiana (Pa.), but got back in the win column with a 19-point win over Staten Island. The Wildcats snapped a 14-game conference win streak with a 70-59 loss at STAC on Jan. 19, but responded with a four-point comeback victory over Mercy to begin a five-game conference win streak before falling at UDC, 71-65 on Feb. 11. Daemen put together a pivotal 68-64 win over STAC at home on Feb. 16, but could not complete the comeback over Mercy at home on Feb. 18 to drop their third and final conference game of the year, 50-44. The Wildcats won three straight games to close out regular season play, topping UDC 82-68, D'Youville 67-51 and claiming their fifth ECC regular season title after topping Roberts Welsyean 64-59. Daemen is riding a five-game win streak coming into the NCAA Tournament.

A-LOTTA ALAHA
Averaging 65 points per game this season, the Wildcats are led offensively by the ECC Player of the Year Alahna Paige, a four-year Daemen starter who has put together a senior season for the ages in 2023-24. Paige earned her second major conference award (she was the 2020-21 ECC Rookie of the Year) after leading the ECC and ranking second in the nation in scoring with 21.9 points per game on the year, more than doubling her average points from her junior season (10.1 ppg in 2022-23). The nation's leader in three pointers per game (3.37), Paige broke Daemen's 10-year program record for single-season triples (78), and currently sits at 91 three pointers on the year. She became the 28th player in Daemen program history to record 1,000 career points in her breakout senior season where she sits just eight points shy of 600 points on the year. After going 91-of-221 beyond the arc this season, the senior guard is shooting 41% from three-point land, 13th in NCAA Division II women's basketball. Paige became the third Wildcat to earn ECC Player of the Year (Katie Titus in 2022, Caroline White in 2021). She leads the Wildcats and ranks third in the league in field goal percentage (40.6%) and ranks second in the ECC with an 85% free throw percentage. A starter in all 27 games who averages 36 minutes per game, Paige led the Wildcats offensively in 23 of Daemen's 27 games this season, and scored career-high points in five separate games, including finishing with a career-high 36 points in the pivotal win against St. Thomas Aquinas on Feb. 16. On top of being the league's best shooter, Paige also dishes the rock to her teammates, leading the Wildcats and ranking sixth in the ECC with 3.1 assists per game (83 total).

IN THE BANK
This season, Jenepher Banker notched her 250th career victory with the 80-61 win at D'Youville on Feb. 4. Since the start of the 2019-20 season when Daemen earned their first ECC regular season and tournament titles, Banker's Wildcats have compiled a 99-25 overall record while going 64-10 in ECC play. Banker owns a 140-67 record in her eight seasons at Daemen, and has led the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament in five of those eight seasons.

GABBY MCBUCKETS
In her second season at Daemen, Gabby McDuffie put together a solid senior campaign. After ranking fifth on the team with an average of 6.4 points per game in her junior season last year, McDuffie started all 27 games this season and earned Second Team All-ECC honors after averaging 10.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Averaging 28.5 minutes per game, the senior guard is shooting 36% from the field (100-of-278), has banked 20 of 83 beyond the arc and is shooting 73% from the free throw line this season while dishing out 57 assists and 31 steals on the year.

ALL-CONFERENCE
Along with Paige earning ECC Player of the Year and picking up First Team All-ECC honors and McDuffie earning Second Team All-ECC, sophomore forward Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) was named Third Team All-ECC honors for the first time in her career. Ranking third in scoring on the team behind Paige and McDuffie, Pikett averages 9.2 points per game. A sharpshooter, Pikett is shooting 51% from the field (91-of-178), 47% from beyond the arc (14-of-30) and ranks second on the team in blocks (26) and fifth in rebounds (4.0 per game). Pikett has started all 25 games for the Wildcats this season, and tallied double-digit points in 13 games on the year, including a career-high 20 points against Staten Island on Jan. 12.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
The Wildcats have a tough test in the East Region quarterfinals with Saint Rose. The Golden Knights are in the midst of a Cinderella season after finding out the college will be closing at the end of the 2024 spring semester just a few weeks into the season. Saint Rose was picked to finish 11th out of 12 teams in the Northeast-10 preseason coaches poll, the Golden Knights finished third in the league this season after posting a 21-6 record, marking the most wins in a single season since 2010-11. The Golden Knights are coming off a 58-53 loss to Southern Connecticut State in the NE10 quarterfinals, but garnered the No. 3 seed in the East Region as they make their 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and first since 2011. In his first season as head coach of the Golden Knights, Will Brown earned NE10 Coach of the Year as his team leads Division II women's basketball in team defense, allowing their opponents to score an average of 47.5 points per game while averaging 58.8 points per game on the year and shooting 40.5% from the field, 30% from beyond the arc and 68% from the free throw line. A trio of Golden Knights lead the way offensively with 5-8 sophomore guard in Second Team All-NE10 Payton Graber who averages 11.9 ppg while shooting 36% from the field (106-of-291) and 35% from beyond the arc (45-of-129) and averaging 5.5 rebounds per game, 2.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game and 14 total blocks. 5-foot-9 junior guard Syrita Faraj started all 27 games and averages 11.3 ppg shooting 36% from the field (114-of-318) and 30% from downtown (36-of-120). 6-foot-3 junior forward Maddisyn Mahoney, who earned Second Team All-NE10, is third in the NE10 with a 52.2 field goal percentage and ranks third in the team with 10.9 ppg and second on the team in rebounds (6.2) while leading the Golden Knights with 20 blocks and ranks second with 2.3 assists per game. 6-foot sophomore forward Aniya McDonald-Perry was named to the NE10 All-Defensive Team after ranking second in the league with 10.4 rebounds per game (281 total).

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats and Golden Knights are 1-1 all-time. Daemen picked up the last win between these two teams with a 78-57 victory over Saint Rose on Dec. 22, 2019.

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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