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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
Alahna Paige vs Saint Rose 3.15.24
52
Winner Daemen Daemen 21-7,13-3 ECC
47
Saint Rose StRose 21-7,17-5 NE10
Winner
Daemen Daemen
21-7,13-3 ECC
52
Final
47
Saint Rose StRose
21-7,17-5 NE10
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Daemen Daemen 16 9 12 15 52
Saint Rose StRose 11 15 7 14 47

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

Wildcats Down Saint Rose To Advance To East Region Semifinals

WALTHAM, Mass. – Survive and advance!! The sixth-seeded Daemen University women's basketball team upset three-seed Saint Rose 52-47 in the NCAA Division II East Region quarterfinal game on Friday afternoon, punching their ticket to the semifinal for Saturday evening. Playing in The Big Dance for the fifth straight season, the Wildcats won their fifth game in the NCAA Tournament, moving to 5-3 all time. Daemen moves to 21-7 on the year with the win this afternoon. Playing in the program's final game, Saint Rose finishes its' Cinderella season with a 21-7 overall record in their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011. The College of Saint Rose is set to close at the end of the semester.
 
A pair of Daemen seniors led the Wildcats in the victory, with Division II Commissioners Conference Association (D2CCA) Player of the Year Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) totaling 26 points after playing 39 minutes in the win. Paige, who was named the 2024 East Coast Conference Player of the Year, shot 40% from the field (10-of-25) on the day and 40% (4-of-10) beyond the arc. Senior forward Natalie Angeletti (Panama, N.Y.) added a career-tying high 17 points, going 57% (4-of-7) from the field and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. All of Angeletti's baskets came from beyond the arc.
 
Playing against the top-ranked defense in the country, the Wildcats shot 32% from the field, connecting on 18-of-56 while also shooting 35% beyond the arc after draining 9-of-26 as well as going 7-of-8 from the free throw stripe.
 
The Wildcats opened the game hot, going on an 8-0 run in the middle of the first after a pair of Angeletti triples, and led by as much as 10 over the Golden Knights in the first quarter. Saint Rose outscored Daemen 15 to 9 in the second quarter after going on a nine point run from the end of the first to the beginning of the second quarter, and headed into the half up by one, 26-25 at the break. The Wildcats and Golden Knights traded points throughout the fourth, but a pair of three's from Paige lifted Daemen up 37-33 after three quarters. Saint Rose would tie the game up late in the fourth quarter but never take a lead over the Wildcats, as a jumper from Paige with 54 seconds left in the game to give the Wildcats the 49-47 lead over Saint Rose would be the game winner. Angeletti banked three free throws down the stretch to seal the deal for Daemen, 52-47.
 
The Wildcats will face the winner of No. 2 Assumption and No. 7 Franklin Pierce in the first of two semifinal games on Saturday at 5 PM.
 
IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Paige led the way for the Wildcats for the 24th time this season with 26 points, adding three rebounds, four assists and one steal in the win.
  • Angeletti went 4-of-7 from the field in the first half to total 12 points, and tallied all five of her six free throws in the second half to post 17 points in the win. She added six rebounds, two steals and one assist on the day.
  • Sophomore forward Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) totaled a season-high 13 rebounds after playing in a season-high 31 minutes today. She snagged 12 defensive boards and added an assist.
GAME NOTES
  • It took just over two and a half minutes of game play before either team scored. Saint Rose got on the board first in the game, but Daemen got the scoring going with a triple from Angeletti to make it 3-2. After a layup from Saint Rose's Payton Graber layup on the other end of the court, Daemen went an 8-0 run with three's from Paige and Angeletti to jump out to an 11-4 lead just under halfway through the first. Saint Rose stopped the Wildcat run with another layup, but the Wildcats led by as much as 10 in the first as Angeletti banked her third triple of the game to make it 14-4 Wildcats. The Golden Knights ended the first quarter with a 6-2 run as Daemen led 16-11 after the first 10 minutes of play.
  • The Wildcats shot 43% (6-of-14) from the field and 50% (4-of-8) beyond the arc in the first. Angeletti led all Daemen shooters with nine first-quarter points.
  • Saint Rose kicked off the second quarter with a pair of layups to bring the game within one, 16-15, until Angeletti yet again knocked down a three. The Golden Knights scored six unanswered points in the middle of the quarter to take a 21-19 lead over Daemen, marking the first Saint Rose lead since their 4-3 lead over the Cats early in the first. Paige knocked down a pair of free throws to tie the game up at 21, and senior guard Gabby McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.) banked a long jumper to bring the Cats on top, 23-21 with just over three minutes left in the half. Saint Rose knocked down a triple with 55 seconds left on the clock, but Montgomery picked off a Golden Knights pass in the final seconds of the second quarter and finished with a layup to bring the game within one, 26-25, at the end of the half.
  • Daemen shot 32% from the field (9-of-28) and 31% beyond the arc (5-of-16) in the first half. Angeletti led the Wildcats with 12 points in the first half after shooting 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Paige added nine first-half points.
  • The Golden Knights got the scoring going in the third with a layup to increase their lead to three, but Daemen responded with a Paige layup to once again make it a one-point game, 29-28. Saint Rose banked a triple halfway through the quarter to take a 31-29 lead, but from there, Paige knocked down back-to-back three's to take a 35-31 lead with three and a half minutes left in the third. Daemen led 37-33 after three quarters.
  • The Wildcats shot 25% (4-of-16) from the field and banked just two of seven triples in the third quarters.
  • Like the previous three quarters, Saint Rose kicked off the scoring in the fourth with a layup to make it a two-point game, 37-35. A triple from senior guard Kaytlyn Matz (Johnsburg, Ill.) put the Wildcats up 40-35, but Saint Rose responded 40 seconds later with a layup to keep it within a one-score game. Paige knocked down a three, and the Golden Knights responded with a three of their own and added a layup to make it a one-point game, 43-42 with 5:25 left in the game. The teams would trade points back-and-forth from there, as Paige banked a driving layup and 20 seconds Saint Rose knocked down a bucket from the blocks to keep it a one-point game, 45-44. A Saint Rose free throw tied it up at 45 with four minutes left in the game, and that's where the score would stay for two minutes until Paige laid one in to give Daemen the 47-45 advantage. Saint Rose immediately knocked down a jumper on the other end of the court to again tie it up with 1:40 left to play. Paige banked a jumper with 54 seconds left in the game to make it 49-47. Angeletti knocked down back-to-back free throws with 11 seconds left in the game to take a 52-47 lead, and that's where the score would stay.
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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