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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
Cecilia Lapertosa shoots a free throw against Molloy
Max Sacco
74
Winner Daemen Daemen 9-6,5-0 ECC
65
Molloy Molloy 7-8,1-2 ECC
Winner
Daemen Daemen
9-6,5-0 ECC
74
Final
65
Molloy Molloy
7-8,1-2 ECC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Daemen Daemen 14 21 17 22 74
Molloy Molloy 18 10 15 22 65

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

Five Wildcats Score In The Double-Digits As Women's Basketball Tops Molloy 74-65

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. – The Daemen University women's basketball team collected their first win since Dec. 15 and snapped a three-game losing streak with a 74-65 win over Molloy University on Friday night to remain undefeated in East Coast Conference play on the year. The Wildcats improve to 9-6 overall while the Lions drop to 7-7 overall and 1-2 in ECC action.
 
Daemen was led on both sides of the court by a dominant performance from junior forward Cecilila Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) who totaled 15 points, 16 rebounds and five assists on the night. She was one of five Daemen players that scored in the double-digits and shot 43% from the field. Daemen outrebounded the Lions 46 to 37 on the night – including 18 offensive boards. Lapertosa accounted for eight of those O-boards.
 
IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Freshman forward Ne'vaeh Buntley (Rochester, N.Y.) led the Wildcats with a 17-point performance after shooting 46% from the field and knocked down 2-of-7 triples and 3-of-6 field throws on the day. The freshman, who has started five games now, added seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block.
  • For the fifth time this season, Lapertosa tallied a double-double (points-rebounds) and posted 16 or more boards for the third game this year.  The junior shot 41% from the field (7-of-17) for 15 points and added five assists, three steals and a block on the night.
  • Junior forward Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) finished with 15 points off three triples, a field goal and four free throws, along with eight rebounds – three offensive – three assists, one block and one steal.
  • Graduate student guard Danielle DiCintio (Somers, N.Y.) totaled 11 points off a pair of three's and two field goals. The guard totaled a team-high six assists while adding five rebounds and one steal against the Lions.
  • Junior guard Jolene Raposo (Tampa, Fla.) finished with 10 points – all in the first half – after shooting 66% from the field while dishing out four assists.
  • Molloy's Samantha Muller led all players with 21 points on the night.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Molloy opened the game on an 11-4 run in the first 6:30 minutes of the game, but thanks to four players scoring points over the final 3:30 minutes of the first quarter, Daemen closed out the first on a 10-7 run to bring the game within four, 18-14, after the first 10 minutes of play. The Cats shot 53.8% from the field in the first.
  • The Cats came into the second energized and after going 11-6 from the break, took the lead for the first time since the first points of the game halfway through the quarter, 25-24, with a layup from Raposo. Daemen kept their foot on the pedal to close out the half scoring 10 of the last 14 points to take a 35-28 lead into the half after outscoring the Lions 21-10 in the second. Raposo and Buntley each scored 10 points in the first half of play.
  • Down by 10 early in the third, Molloy scored five points over a minute of gameplay to bring the game within five, 38-33. The Wildcats quickly responded, and after a triple from Buntley and a layup from Lapertosa, again led by 10. Daemen and Molloy traded points from there through the rest of the quarter and led 52-43 after three. Lapertosa had a breakout third quarter, scoring seven of Daemen's 17 points while also totaling six rebounds to earn a double-double through three quarters.  
  • Daemen continued to handle the Lions in the final quarter of play, extending their lead to as much as 15 in the fourth, 69-54. 
GAME NOTES
  • The Wildcats remain ranked 10th in the East Region in the Division II College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) Regional Rankings.  
  • The Cats shot 43% from the field (28-of-65) along with 34.6% (9-of-26) from beyond the arc while holding the Lions to a 36.5% shooting percentage and 30.4% beyond the arc.
  • Daemen committed eight turnovers in the first quarter and just 11 in the final three quarters.
  • The Wildcats have won 10 straight games against the Lions and own a 20-4 all-time series record over Molloy.
  • This marked the second straight game this season that the Wildcats scored 74 points in a game. Coming into the matchup, Daemen averaged 58.7 points per game.
UP NEXT
Daemen heads down to Flushing, N.Y. to play at Queens College on Sunday in a 1 PM match up.
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, Instagram at @DaemenWBB
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