Lewis Glass

Wildcats To Face No. 4 Jefferson In NCAA Division II East Region Finals

3/18/2024 12:11:00 AM

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

BACK IN THE FINALS
For the third time in four seasons, the Daemen University women's basketball team will play in the NCAA Division II East Region Finals. The No. 6 seed Wildcats are set to face the No. 4 seed Jefferson University Rams in the regional championship game on Monday at 7 PM in Waltham, Mass. on the campus of Bentley University. The Wildcats come into the Sweet 16 with a 22-7 overall record after winning the East Coast Conference Championship on March 10, while Jefferson comes in ranked No. 3 in Division II women's basketball by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association with a 32-1 overall record after winning the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC).

HOW THEY GOT HERE
As the sixth seed in the regional, Daemen has been on a mission to get back to the finals through the first two games. After a thrilling 52-47 win over No. 3 seed Saint Rose in the quarterfinals on Friday, the Wildcats punched their ticket to the East Region championship with a big 68-58 upset over the No. 2 seed Assumption University Greyhounds in the semifinals on Saturday. Daemen led for 31 minutes in the game; Assumption's largest lead was 2-0 at 9:04 in the first quarter -- the first points of the day. Playing her best season of college basketball, Daemen senior guard Alahna Paige's (Rochester, N.Y.) big second half was the difference-maker for the Wildcats. Entering the half, the senior had just four points – but after a 17-point second half, Paige finished with a team-high 21 points as she led the Wildcats offensively for the 25th game this season. Paige was one of three Wildcats to score in the double-figures, as seniors Gabby McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Natalie Angeletti (Panama, N.Y.) each added 12 points on the day. The game was close from the start, with both teams trading baskets in the first quarter. Daemen closed out the first on a 12-7 run to lead 16-13 after the first 10 minutes of the play. The Wildcats scored eight unanswered points in the start of the second quarter to take a 10-point lead – their largest of the game – 26-16 over the Greyhounds, but from there Assumption went on an 11-point tear and made it a one-point game, 28-27, with the Wildcats on top at the half. Each team went on runs in the evenly matched third quarter, and with Assumption scoring 15 points and Daemen scoring 14, we headed into the final 10 minutes of the game tied up at 42. Both teams traded buckets but Daemen kicked off the fourth on a 10-6 run. Assumption tied the game up at 56 with four minutes left in the game after a 10-4 run of their own, but from there, Daemen turned up the heat and never looked back, scoring 12 of the final 14 points in the game to outscore Assumption 26-16 in the fourth quarter and win their sixth NCAA Tournament game.

WIN AND YOU'RE IN
The Wildcats are one win away from punching their ticket to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight for the second time in program history. Daemen set a program-first in 2021 by hosting the East Region Tournament for the first time, and continued their record-breaking year with the program's first Regional Championship after beating fifth-seed Roberts Wesleyan 58-40. As the eight seed in the Elite Eight, the Wildcats put up a fight but fell to the No. 1 team in the nation and eventual national champion Lubbock Christian, 66-49.

KEEP THE RECORDS COMING
Daemen comes into the East Regional final with a 22-7 overall record. A win on Monday would tie the program's record for most wins in a season, 23, in Daemen's Division II era (2015-present). The Wildcats posted a 23-5 record during the 2019-20 season when they punched their ticket to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time, but it was canceled by the emerging COVID-19 pandemic. The Wildcats totaled 22 wins in the 2021-22 season when they advanced to the East Region Championship game.

DAEMEN IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Playing in the NCAA Division II Tournament for the fifth consecutive season, the Wildcats are 6-3 all-time in The Big Dance. Daemen holds a 1-1 record in East Region championship games after beating Roberts Wesleyan in 2021 but falling to Pace in the 2022 Sweet 16.

FAMILIAR FACES
Daemen will face a familiar foe in Jefferson in Monday night's championship game. This will be the third time the Rams and Wildcats meet in the NCAA Tournament. Daemen won the first matchup against Jefferson with a 70-52 semifinal victory in the 2022 regional, but the Rams came out with a 74-47 win in the 2023 East Region quarterfinals to end ended the Wildcats' postseason run last year.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR PAIGE
Daemen guard Alahna Paige has put together a record-breaking senior season, earning East Coast Conference Player of the Year as well as Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) East Region Player of the Year. With her 26-point outing against the Golden Knights on Friday afternoon, Paige became the first Daemen player in the Division II era (2015-present) to score 600 points in a single season, and is the seventh Daemen player all-time to score 600 in a season. Katie Titus held the previous D2-era record for points in a season (554) in 2021-22. Paige ranks second in NCAA Division II women's basketball, scoring 22.0 points per game. The senior guard added 21 points against Assumption in Saturday's semifinal victory. As the nation's leader in three-pointers per game (3.31), Paige broke Daemen's 10-year program record for single-season triples (78), and currently sits at 96 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. After going 96-of-240 beyond the arc this season, the senior guard is shooting 40% from three-point land, 14th in NCAA Division II women's basketball. Paige has scored in double-figures in every game this season (29 games) and has scored 20 or more points in 18 games, including each of the last nine games for the Wildcats. Paige has scored 30 points or more in three games, including knocking down a career-best 36 points in Daemen's win over St. Thomas Aquinas on Feb. 16. She leads the Wildcats and ranks sixth in the league with 3.0 assists per game (88 total) and adds 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.

CLOSE VICTORIES
After posting blowout victories over District of Columbia (82-68) and D'Youville (67-51) on Feb. 22 and 25, four of the past five games for the Wildcats have all been within five points. Daemen topped Roberts Wesleyan 64-59 in the regular season finale to claim their fifth straight ECC regular season title, then as the top seed in the ECC Tournament beat UDC 69-66 on a buzzer-beater triple from Paige. In the ECC Championship, the Wildcats took down Mercy 55-50 in a comeback victory, outlasting the top-ranked defense in the conference. With those three close victories on hand, the Wildcats faced a tough test in No. 3 seed Saint Rose in the East Region quarterfinal. Playing against the No. 1 defense in the nation, the Wildcats pulled their experience both in the NCAA Tournament and in tight match ups and were able to come out on the winning side of a close game yet again, beating the Golden Knights 52-47 in the quarterfinals. Friday's win over Saint Rose marked the lowest-scoring victory for the Wildcats this season. Daemen and Assumption played close for 35 of the 40 minutes of game-play, but after Assumption tied the game up at 56 with five minutes left, the Wildcats went on a 12-2 run to beat the Greyhounds by 10, 68-58, in the regional semifinals.

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.

ECC HONORS
On top of Paige's ECC Player of the Year and First Team All-ECC selection, senior Gabby McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.) was named to the All-ECC Second Team and sophomore Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) earned Third Team All-Conference honors.

UP NEXT
The winner of Daemen/Jefferson will take home the East Region trophy and head to St. Joseph, Missouri to play in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight on Monday, March 25.

THE RAMS
Jefferson is of the most electric teams in Division II women's college basketball this season, entering Monday's regional championship game with a nation-leading 97% winning percentage on the year. The Rams are 32-1 overall and are ranked #3 in the nation by the WBCA after winning 23 straight games this season, with their only loss coming in the form of a 97-107 triple-overtime loss in a non-league game against Bloomsburg on Dec. 9. Jefferson went undefeated -- 16-0 -- in the CACC this season and won the program's fifth conference tournament title by cruising to victory in a 61-39 win over No. 2 seed Chestnut Hill in the championship game to punch their ticket back to the NCAA Tournament. Coming in as the No. 4 seed in the East Regional, the Rams narrowly escaped No. 5 seed Southern New Hampshire in the quarterfinals, topping the Penmen 91-89 in overtime on Friday night. Jefferson handled business in the semifinal, breaking out a 68-50 win over the top-seeded Bentley Falcons on Saturday to advance back to the East Region final for the second straight season. The Rams tout the fifth-highest scoring margin in the nation, averaging outscoring their opponents by 19.5 points per game on the year, and also rank 11th in scoring defense (opponents average 55 ppg over the Rams). Jefferson has a trio of offensive weapons, starting with CACC Player of the Year Sam Yencha who averages 16 ppg and 11.8 rebounds per game (third-most in NCAA Div. II women's basketball). Yencha, a 5-foot-11 junior guard, ranks second in the nation with 22 double-doubles (points-rebounds) this season. Adding to the dominant Rams offense is 5-foot-10 senior forward Haley Meinel who averages 14 ppg and leads the Rams shooting 42.7% from the field while ranking second in the nation in steals per game (3.91) and leads the team with 47 blocks. 6-foot junior forward Cassie Murphy is the third Ram to average double-digit points (13.8) and adds 6.7 rebounds per game along with 31 total blocks. Rounding out the well-balanced Rams offense is 5-foot-9 senior guard Morgan Robinson, who adds 8.8 ppg and leads the nation with 8.4 assists per game.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the third time these two teams meet on the court, and the third time they play in the NCAA Division II Tournament. Daemen won the first matchup (70-52 in the 2022 East Region semifinals), and Jefferson won the last (74-47 in the 2023 East Region quarterfinals).

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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