Claire Pikett goes for the shot against D'Youville

Women's Basketball To Face STAC, Mercy On The Road This Weekend

2/6/2025 2:09:00 PM

By: CONTACT: Mary Margaret Johnson, Director of Athletics Communications | mmjohnso@daemen.edu

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Daemen University women's basketball team will travel downstate this weekend to play at St. Thomas Aquinas College on Friday, Feb. 7 and at Mercy University on Sunday, Feb. 9 in a pair of East Coast Conference match ups. The Wildcats, who are riding a six-game win streak, come into the weekend with a 14-6 overall record and a perfect 10-0 in ECC play. In a down year, STAC is just 4-15 overall and 2-7 in ECC play, while Mercy sits third in the league with a 6-3 conference record and is 12-7 overall.

LAST WEEKEND
The Wildcats took down Staten Island and District of Columbia last weekend in a pair of tightly contested ECC games to remain unbeaten in conference play. On Friday night against the Dolphins, the Wildcats were paced by a 20-point third quarter and completed the comeback in a tight match-up between the top two teams in the East Coast Conference, topping CSI 50-44. It was a tale of two halves for the Wildcats. After scoring just 15 points and shooting 25% from the field in the first half, Daemen went on a tear in the second half, outscoring the Dolphins 35 to 15 in the final two quarters while shooting 39% from the field (11-of-28). In a balanced offensive attack, four Wildcat players finished with double-digit points on the night, with freshman forward Ne'vaeh Buntley (Rochester, N.Y.) leading the way with 12 points. Junior guard Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) and graduate student guard Danielle DiCintio (Somers, N.Y.) each added 11 points while junior forward Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) chipped in 10 points. Despite a late surge by UDC in Sunday's matchup, the Wildcats survived to win 59-56 thanks to solid free throw shooting down the stretch. On the day she was honored with her 1,000 career point ball, DiCintio led the Wildcats offensively with 18 points. Daemen shot a season-low 24.6% from the field and just 15.6% beyond the arc in the win today but stood tall at the free throw line. The Firebirds committed 19 personal fouls, and 20 of Daemen's 59 points came from free throws. Seven of the nine Wildcats that saw the court made at least one free throw.

MOVIN' UP IN THE POLLS
The Wildcats are ranked sixth in the East Region in the latest Division II College Sports Communicators regional rankings. The East Region consists of teams from the ECC, Northeast 10 Conference and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. The Wildcats have been ranked in the region throughout the season. Bentley (60 points, 6 first place votes) remains atop the region followed by Holy Family (54 points), Southern Connecticut State (48), Dominican (40) and Saint Anselm (35) are in the top five. Daemen (32), New Haven (21), Jefferson (20), Assumption (7) and Staten Island (7) are the final teams in the top 10 this week.

ATHLETE OF THE MONTH
Freshman forward Ne'vaeh Buntley became the first women's basketball player of the year to be named Daemen Athletics Athlete of the Month for the month of January. Starting all six of Daemen's games, Buntley helped Daemen to a 5-1 record in January. She joined the Daemen starting lineup in mid December and has shined on the court for the Wildcats ever since. The 5-foot-10 freshman forward averaged 14 points per game while shooting at 50% from the field and added 6 rebounds per game over the month of January. She added 10 assists and seven steals in the month as well. Twice shooting 61.5% from the field in January, Buntley posted a month-high 19-point performance against D'Youville University on Jan. 18. She's just the second freshman to be named the Athlete of the Month since the series was reintroduced in September of 2023.

UP NEXT
Daemen returns to Lumsden Gymnasium to host Molloy University (Friday, Feb. 14) and Queens College (Sunday, Feb. 16) next weekend.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
The 2024-25 campaign has been a tough one for STAC, who comes into Friday's game with a 4-15 overall record and 2-7 record in ECC play that sits the Spartans eighth out of nine teams in the conference. The Spartans rank eighth in the league in team defense, allowing 67.7 ppg on average, and rank sixth in the league in scoring offense (59.7 ppg). STAC is led on both sides of the ball by the league's top scorer in Syrita Faraj who is averaging 17.9 ppg and 10.3 rebounds per game.

SERIES HISTORY
The Spartans are the only team in the ECC that the Wildcats have a losing record against. STAC leads the all-time series history 14-11 and over the past three seasons the teams have split the series. Daemen won the first meeting between the two teams in a 58-50 victory at Lumsden Gymnasium on Dec. 13.

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS
Picked first in the ECC Preseason Poll, Mercy has had an up and down year and comes in at 12-7 overall and 6-3 in ECC play. After Daemen handed the Mavericks their first conference loss of the season, Mercy fell to Staten Island, 58-60, and later Molloy, 56-67, and currently sits third in the league behind the Wildcats (10-0) and the Dolphins (8-2). Mercy, who ranks second in the league in scoring with 63.6 ppg, is led by a trio of hot shot Mavs who are averaging double-digit points. 6-foot junior guard Angelina Barrera leads the Mavericks with 14.5 ppg (fifth in the ECC) and 6 rebounds/game and ranks third in the ECC shooting 50% on the year. 5-foot-9 senior guard Jaclyn Stanavich averages 13.7 ppg while shooting 45% from the field and 5-foot-6 sophomore guard Amani Abuhatab averages 11.8 ppg and ranks second in the league shooting 52.5% from the field.

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats are 21-3 all-time against Mercy and won the last meeting at Lumsden Gymnasium on Dec. 15 in a 58-44 victory.

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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