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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
Ne'vaeh Buntley scores 23 points in win over Molloy
Geoff Schneider
64
Molloy Molloy 12-12,5-6 ECC
69
Winner Daemen Daemen 17-6,13-0 ECC
Molloy Molloy
12-12,5-6 ECC
64
Final
69
Daemen Daemen
17-6,13-0 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Molloy Molloy 12 18 14 20 64
Daemen Daemen 21 13 12 23 69

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

Buntley Drops 23 In Tight Win Over Molloy

AMHERST, N.Y. – Ne'vaeh Buntley (Rochester, N.Y.) scored a career-high 23 points as the Daemen University women's basketball team escaped a tightly contested matchup against Molloy University. The Wildcats topped the Lions 69-64 to remain undefeated in East Coast Conference play, 13-0 and move to 17-6 overall. With tonight's win, the Wildcats will clinch their sixth straight ECC regular season title with a win over Queens on Sunday or if Staten Island loses to St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday afternoon.
 
Daemen shot 46% from the field, going 23-of-50 and tying a season-high 50% beyond the arc today (14-of-28). For the seventh game this season, Buntley scored a career-high, leading all players with 23 points on the night after shooting 66% from the field and 62% beyond the arc. The freshman forward was one of four Wildcats to drop double-digit points in the win.
 
IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Four days after winning her first ECC Rookie of the Week honor, Buntley continued her tear in conference play, going 8-of-12 from the field with five of those eight buckets coming from beyond the arc. Buntley notched her first double-double of her young career, totaling 12 rebounds as well while adding two blocks, two steals and one assist on the night.
  • Graduate student guard Danielle DiCintio (Somers, N.Y.) totaled 18 points off six triples. It marked the second time this season that DiCintio scored six three's in a single game. The guard added four defensive rebounds, two assists and one steal to her stat line tonight.
  • Junior guard Claire PIkett (Holland, N.Y.) finished with 13 points off a pair of three's, a layup, and five free throws. She added a team-high four blocks, a team-high five steals, three rebounds and two assists tonight.
  • Sophomore guard Sophie Auer (Lewiston, N.Y.) totaled 11 points after shooting 50% from the field(4-of-8) while adding six rebounds and six assists.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • The Wildcats jumped out to a 10-0 lead after going 4-of-5 to open the game. Daemen remained in control for the rest of the first quarter and were excellent on the floor tonight, shooting 66% from the field (8-of-12) and 83% (5-of-6) beyond the arc. Daemen led 21-12 after the first with Buntley leading the Cats offensively with eight first-quarter points.
  • After a quiet first quarter the Lions were explosive in the second, outscoring the Cats 18-13 in the quarter to make it a four-point game at the half with Daemen up 34-30. Buntley led all players with 13 first-half points.
  • Molloy narrowly outscored the Cats in the third, 14-12, with all 12 of Daemen's points coming from beyond the arc as the Wildcats went 4-of-9 from three-point land. Daemen took a two-point lead, 46-44, into the final quarter of play.
  • In a tight fourth quarter, Molloy tied the game up at 48 with 6:30 left to play, but from there the Cats went on an 16-8 run with buckets from Buntley, DiCintio, Pikett, Lapertosa and Auer to take an eight-point lead, 64-56, in the final minute of game play. The Lions brought the game within three with four seconds left, but the Cats closed out the game with a pair of Pikett free throws to end it, 69-64.
GAME NOTES
  • The Wildcats tied for fifth in the East Region in the latest Division II College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) Regional Poll. Daemen has been ranked in the region throughout the season.
  • Ne'vaeh Buntley was named the ECC Rookie of the Week for the first time in her career this week after averaging 16 points per game in the Wildcats' wins over St. Thomas Aquinas and Mercy last weekend.
  • Daemen has won 11 straight games against Molloy and is 21-4 all-time against the Lions.
  • With three games left in the regular season, the Wildcats remain perfect in ECC play. This is the first time since the 2020-21 season that Daemen has compiled an undefeated ECC record.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will host Queens College on Sunday at noon.
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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