Rich Barnes

Women's Basketball Tips Off Season in Delaware This Weekend

11/13/2025 10:00:00 AM

By: CONTACT: Connor Griffin, Assistant Director of Athletics Communications | cgriffin@daemen.edu

TIPPING OFF
The Daemen University women's basketball team kicks off its season this weekend at the WilmU Tip-Off Tournament in Newark, Del. The Wildcats take on host Wilmington on Friday before playing Goldey-Beacom in a neutral-site contest on Saturday. Daemen begins the season receiving votes in the WBCA national poll.

EXHIBITION ACTION
The Wildcats played two exhibition games against Division I opponents to prepare for the season. Daemen fell 98-62 at Syracuse in its first exhibition. Ne'vaeh Buntley (Rochester, N.Y.) scored 18 points and grabbed five rebounds while Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) added 17 points for the Wildcats. One day later, Daemen traveled to St. Bonaventure for its second preseason game, giving the Bonnies all they could handle. The Wildcats held the lead for the majority of the first three quarters and were ahead by as much as 14, but a second-half run from St. Bonaventure helped the Bonnies pull back in it and take a 79-68 victory. Buntley led the Wildcats with 15 points, converting three shots from beyond the arc and adding six rebounds. Shyla Montgomery (Brockton, Mass.) contributed 11 points and dished out five assists, alongside two steals. Lapertosa recorded 13 points, collected nine rebounds, and blocked three shots.

PRESEASON FAVORITES
The ECC released its women's basketball preseason poll on Oct. 20, with the Wildcats picked as the preseason favorite. Daemen received 81 points and nine first-place votes. Mercy (72 points), Staten Island (51 points), D'Youville (49 points), and St. Thomas Aquinas (41 points) rounded out the top five. District of Columbia (37 points) and Molloy (36 points) were picked next, followed by Queens (21 points) and Roberts Wesleyan (17 points).

PIKETT EARNS PRAISE
Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) was named ECC Preseason Player of the Year following a standout junior season that saw her earn First Team All-ECC honors. The forward started all 30 games, averaging 30.9 minutes per game last season, and ranked second on the team in both scoring (11.4 PPG) and rebounding (5.9 RPG). Pikett led the Wildcats and ranked third in the league with 52 total blocks (1.7 BPG). She logged 14 multi-block games, including tying her career high with five blocks during a win over Queens. She also led the team with 60 steals (2.0 steals/game) and tallied 16 games with multiple steals. Pikett posted a career-best 22 points during Daemen's East Region quarterfinal win over Jefferson. She also scored a team-high 20 points during a win over District of Columbia and led the team with 19 points in a victory against Roberts Wesleyan.

NEW LEADER
Nate Beutel was named the Head Women's Basketball Coach at Daemen in September. Beutel has more than a decade of coaching experience. He served as the head women's basketball coach for 13 successful seasons at SUNY Niagara, where he led the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II program to 314 wins. The six-time NJCAA Region III Div. II Coach of the Year and five-time NJCAA Div. II East District Coach of the Year developed nearly 50 All-Region players, including eight NJCAA Div. II All-Americans and seven Region III Div. II Players of the Year. Following his 13 years as the head coach at SUNY Niagara, Beutel made the jump to the Division I level this summer, being named the Director of Basketball Operations and an Assistant Coach at the University at Buffalo. He takes over the reins following the retirement of Jenepher Banker in August after nine seasons leading the Wildcats.

LAST SEASON RECAP
Daemen finished the 2024-25 season with a 22-8 overall record while collecting its sixth straight East Coast Conference regular season title. The Wildcats went 15-1 in ECC play en route to winning the program's fifth ECC Tournament title in six years. Punching their ticket to the 64-team NCAA Division II Tournament for the sixth straight season, the second-seeded Wildcats advanced to the East Region semifinals after routing No. 7 seed Jefferson 70-48 in the first round of the tournament. Daemen's season came to an end at the hands of #22 Holy Family in the regional semifinals (68-55).

NEW YEAR, SAME TALENT
The Wildcats return nine players from last season. In addition to Pikett, Daemen also brings back another All-ECC selection in Buntley, who earned third-team accolades. She played in all 30 games and made 19 starts last season. The forward finished third on the team in shooting percentage, shooting 40.2% from the field (119-of-296), while also shooting 30.9% beyond the arc (30-of-97) and averaging 5.6 rebounds per game. Lapertosa led the team and ranked fourth in the ECC with 8.7 rebounds per game after posting the most rebounds in a single season in Daemen's Division II era (243 total). Additionally, she finished third on the team in scoring (10.3 PPG) and was named the ECC Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Sophie Auer (Lewiston, N.Y.) started and appeared in all 30 games last season, averaging a team-high 34.4 minutes per game. She ranked fifth on the team in total points (285), averaging 9.5 points per game, and shot a team-high 45% (122-of-271) from the field.

WELCOME TO THE SQUAD
The Wildcats welcomed four new players this season, with three transfers and one freshman. Junior Jalea Abrams arrived in Amherst from ECC foe Queens. Daemen also added some international flair, with Julia Fontanillo (Valladolid, Spain) coming on board after two seasons at Raritan Valley CC. Sophomore Kylee Marvin (Ontario, N.Y.) joined the team from Wheeling University. Brianna Caliri (Staten Island, N.Y.) is the lone freshman this year.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Wilmington is coming off a 1-27 season overall, including a 0-16 CACC mark in 2024-25. The Wildcats' top returning scorer is junior Emma Brown (6.4 PPG), who also averaged 6.0 rebounds per contest. Sophomore Mya Nisbet led the team in minutes per game (31.4), averaging 4.5 PPG and a team-leading 2.3 assists per game. Additionally, sophomore TyKeisha Hil averaged 5.0 PPG and 5.8 RPG.

SERIES HISTORY
The teams have only played two times heading into Friday's contest, both of which Daemen won. They last met in November 2019, when the Wildcats earned an 83-51 win on the road. The Wildcats won the inaugural meeting by a 71-54 margin back in February 2000, also on the road.

SCOUTING THE LIGHTNING
Goldey-Beacom finished the 2024-25 campaign 10-19 overall, including a 7-9 CACC mark. The Lightning fell 76-61 to Dominican in the first round of the CACC Tournament. Rory Ciszkowski is the top returning scorer for GBC (11.6 PPG) after shooting 40.1% from three last season. She also averaged 4.0 RPG. Sophomore Lydia Betz averaged 5.1 PPG and 3.2 RPG last season.

SERIES HISTORY
The game on Saturday marks the first meeting between the programs.

UP NEXT
Daemen hosts No. 5 nationally-ranked Gannon in its home opener on Wednesday, Nov. 19. Opening tip-off is slated for 6 p.m.

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

Print Friendly Version