AMHERST, N.Y. – For the sixth straight season, the Daemen University women's basketball team are East Coast Conference Regular Season Champions!! The Wildcats topped Queens College 61-52 on Sunday afternoon to improve to 14-0 in ECC games and 18-6 overall and are riding a 10-game win streak while Queens drops to 4-8 in ECC play and 9-13 on the year. 

With the win and the regular season title, the Wildcats will host the 2025 ECC Tournament Championship at Lumsden Gymnasium on March 8-9.

Daemen shot 38% from the field, going 25-of-66 and was just 24% (6-of-11) beyond the arc today. Junior forward Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) led the Wildcats offensively with 17 points today.

IMPACT PLAYERS

• Lapertosa shot 50% from the field, going 6-of-12 and was 1-of-1 beyond the arc while adding four free throws. The junior forward added seven rebounds – four offensive – and one steal to her stat line today.
• Freshman forward Ne'vaeh Buntley (Rochester, N.Y.) totaled 14 points after going 44% from the field (7-of-16) along with seven rebounds and one block.
• Graduate student guard Danielle DiCintio (Somers, N.Y.) finished with nine points after going 4-of-8 from the field and added just one triple in the win along with six rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal.
• Sophomore guard Sophie Auer (Lewiston, N.Y.) totaled nine points after shooting 40% from the field (4-of-10) while adding four rebounds – three offensive boards –three assists, one block and one steal.
• Junior guard Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) led the Wildcats at the boards today, finishing with a team-high nine rebounds – two offensive boards – five blocks, five assists and six points.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• After Queens came back from a four-point deficit to make it a one-point game, 11-10, with just over two minutes left in the first, Daemen scored eight straight to the end of the quarter off triples from Lapertosa and Meghan Trapper (Buffalo, N.Y.) and a Buntley layup to take a 19-10 lead into the first break.
• The Wildcats led by as much as 15 points in the second quarter after going on an 8-2 run in the first two minutes of the period. From there, the Knights closed out the quarter scoring 13 of the next 19 points and brought the game within eight points at the half, 33-25.
• Just like in the second quarter, Daemen got out to a hot start and Queens staged a comeback. The Wildcats took a 14-point lead, 40-26, after scoring seven of the first eight points of the second half, but in the final seven minutes of the third, the Knights went on a 12-6 run and brought it back to an eight-point game, 46-38.
• Queens opened up the fourth with a pair of triples and brought the game within four, 48-44, but the Wildcats never let it get closer than four points and scored eight straight to take a 12-point lead, 58-46, with five minutes left.

GAME NOTES

• Daemen has won six straight ECC Regular Season titles (2024-25, 23-24, 22-23, 21-22, 20-21, 19-20 co-champions). This will be the fifth consecutive season that the Wildcats host the ECC Tournament. Daemen has also won the ECC Tournament four times, including the last three tournaments.
• 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.
• The Wildcats have beaten the Knights in each of the last 13 games, dating back to Feb. 2018.
• Daemen outrebounded Queens 50 to 33 today, including pulling down 19 offensive boards compared to just seven for the Knights.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will travel across town to D'Youville University next Saturday (Feb. 22) for a 1 PM match up.