Rich Barnes

Women's Basketball Rings in New Year on the Road

12/31/2025 1:10:00 PM

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

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR
Daemen (9-2, 4-0 ECC) opens the 2026 calendar year on the road, battling #18 Bentley on New Year's Day, Thursday, before taking on Franklin Pierce on Saturday. Including last season, the Wildcats posted a 24-5 record in 2025, as they aim to maintain the momentum going into the new year.

LAST TIME OUT
Daemen went 1-1 at the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic on Dec. 20-21. The Wildcats opened the tournament by defeating Texas A&M Kingsville 80-75 in overtime. Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) recorded a double-double and career-high in points (28) to help Daemen defeat Texas A&M University-Kingsville 80-75 in overtime. Daemen capitalized on turnovers, scoring 25 points off TAMUK's 25 giveaways, and secured the win with a strong 15-point performance in the extra period. Ne'vaeh Buntley (Rochester, N.Y.) added 19 points and also logged five rebounds and a steal. Shyla Montgomery (Brockton, Mass.) dished out seven assists and tallied five steals, contributing significantly on both ends of the court. Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) posted two blocks and added two steals, strengthening the team's defensive efforts. Daemen then fell to Montana State Billings, 63-55, the next day to wrap up the tournament. A slow start put the Wildcats down by double-digits early. Daemen cut it down to single digits at six in the final quarter, but it could not complete the comeback. Pikett led the Wildcats with 19 points and added four blocks and four steals. Lapertosa recorded 14 points, five rebounds, and two steals. Sophie Auer (Lewiston, N.Y.) added seven points and secured six rebounds, alongside three steals.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Pikett was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on Dec. 22. Pikett posted six blocks, six steals, and grabbed 10 rebounds in two games over the weekend, helping Daemen go 1-1 at the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic. The senior logged two blocks and two steals while collecting two rebounds in an 80-75 overtime win over Texas A&M Kingsville. Pikett logged four steals and four blocks against MSU Billings. She also grabbed eight rebounds, dished out three assists, and scored 19 points.

IN THE RANKINGS
Buntley leads the team and ranks third in the ECC in scoring (15.4 PPG). Lapertosa is sixth in the conference in scoring (14.5 PPG), fifth in rebounding (7.5 RPG), second in blocks (2.0 BPG), third in steals (2.1 SPG), and eighth in field goal percentage (48.1%). Pikett is the conference leader in steals (3.4 SPG), and she sits fourth in blocks (1.7 BPG). Montgomery (2.2 SPG) is second in steals, while Auer (1.9 SPG) ranks fifth. Montgomery is also fourth in assists (3.0 APG) while Julia Fontanillo (Valladolid, Spain) sits 11th (2.5 APG).

DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE
The Wildcats recorded 36 steals against Wilmington on Nov. 14, the most in a game in the program's Division II era. Raposo broke the program record (Division II era) for steals in a game with nine, while Pikett logged eight and Montgomery posted six. Additionally, the Wildcats had 10 blocks in the contest, led by freshman Brianna Caliri (Staten Island, N.Y) with three and Jalea Abrams (Elmira, N.Y.) with two. On Nov. 15, the Wildcats logged 18 steals with seven from Pikett while Lapertosa and Auer each snagged two. Caliri registered two of Daemen's five blocks in the contest. Daemen logged 15 steals and five blocks against TAMU Kingsville, then recorded 12 steals and eight blocks against MSU Billings. The Wildcats lead the ECC and sit third nationally in blocks per game (6.4 BPG). Daemen also leads the conference in steals per game (15.09), sitting 13th nationally.

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.

SCOUTING THE FALCONS (6-1, 2-0 NE10)
Bentley is ranked No. 18 nationally in the latest WBCA Coaches Poll. The Falcons have won five straight games, most recently defeating Holy Family 66-48 at home. Bentley is led in scoring by Niya Morgen, who is averaging 15.9 PPG on 51.3% shooting from the field. Kayana Armbrister is second in scoring (8.9 PPG) while leading the team in rebounding (5.6 RPG). Julia Elie is averaging 8.7 PPG, a team-leading 1.4 steals per game, and 5.1 RPG.

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats and Falcons will be meeting for the second time. Bentley defeated Daemen 76-61 on Nov. 10, 2023, in Rochester, N.Y., as part of the Redhawk Classic.

SCOUTING THE RAVENS (1-10, 0-3 NE10)
Franklin Pierce fell 72-45 to Division I Bryant in its last game on Dec. 21. Before that, the Ravens earned a 73-55 victory over Goldey-Beacom on Dec. 19. FPU is led in scoring by Angelisse Melendez (9.3 PPG), while Emily Mennillo sits right behind her (9.2 PPG) and leads the team in assists (3.1 APG). Nafi Balde is averaging a team-leading 5.2 rebounds per contest.

SERIES HISTORY
The teams will meet for the second time on Saturday. Daemen defeated FPU 65-45 on Nov. 9, 2019, in Rochester, N.Y., as part of the Redhawk Classic.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats restart ECC action at home, first hosting District of Columbia at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 9, before welcoming Staten Island to Lumsden Gymnasium at 12 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 11.

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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