Geoff Schneider

Wildcats Wrap Up Regular Season at Roberts Wesleyan on Wednesday

2/24/2026 3:30:00 PM

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

REGULAR SEASON FINALE
The #15 Daemen women's basketball team wraps up the regular season on the road Wednesday, traveling to Roberts Wesleyan. The Wildcats currently hold a 21-3 record, including a 14-1 ECC mark. Daemen is tied for first place with Mercy in the conference standings.

LAST TIME OUT
Daemen defeated rival D'Youville 66-56 on the road this past Sunday. The Wildcats outscored the Saints 21-9 in the final quarter to secure the win, holding D'Youville to 25% shooting in the fourth. Daemen capitalized on 19 turnovers, converting them into 13 points, and controlled the paint with a 30-22 edge. Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) led the scoring with 22 points, adding six assists and three three-pointers. Ne'vaeh Buntley (Rochester, N.Y.) contributed 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds, including three on the offensive end. Sophie Auer (Lewiston, N.Y.) scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds, including five offensive boards. Shyla Montgomery (Brockton, Mass.) scored 12 points, highlighted by three three-pointers and two steals. Julia Fontanillo (Valladolid, Spain) recorded four steals and added five points.

NATIONALLY-RANKED 'CATS
The Wildcats are ranked #15 in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) NCAA Division II Coaches' Poll. Daemen is ranked for the eighth consecutive week and the ninth time this season, moving up from last week's #18 ranking. The Wildcats are 9-2 at home, 10-0 on the road, and 2-1 in neutral-site contests. The team is also 2-1 against nationally ranked opponents, with wins over #24 Holy Family (66-61) and #18 Bentley (75-62) and a loss to #5 Gannon (57-50).

PIKETT MILESTONES
Pikett reached two milestones in the last two games. On Sunday against D'Youville, she surpassed 200 career steals, becoming the ninth player in program history to achieve this accomplishment. The senior also reached 1,000 career points against STAC on Feb. 15. Pikett is the 29th player in program history to reach this milestone.

ECC WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
Buntley and Pikett were both named to the ECC Weekly Honor Roll on Monday. Buntley scored 12 points and tied her season-high with a team-leading nine rebounds in the win over the Saints. She also recorded an assist and a steal. Pikett led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-17 (47.1%) shooting. She also tallied a season-high six assists along with four rebounds, two steals, and a block.

EAST REGION RANKINGS
Daemen was one of 10 teams in the East Region listed as under consideration for NCAA bids in the first NCAA Division II women's basketball rankings released by the regional advisory committee last week. The regional rankings are used to determine at-large bids to the East Regional portion of the NCAA Tournament following conference tournaments at the end of the season. The 10 teams in the East Region, which are listed alphabetically for the first set, are: American International (15-8), Assumption (17-6), Bentley (18-3), Daemen (20-3), Felician (19-6), Holy Family (19-3), Mercy (17-6), Saint Anselm (12-8), Saint Michael's (11-11), and Southern Connecticut State (18-5).

DISHING IT OUT
Fontanillo has logged 19 assists in the last six games, averaging 3.17 per contest in that span. She posted two against D'Youville last Sunday. The junior recorded a career-high seven at CSI (Feb. 8) and posted four against UDC (Feb. 6). She also logged four against Roberts Wesleyan (Jan. 31). Additionally, Fontanillo tallied six against Franklin Pierce (Jan. 3) and five against Chestnut Hill (Nov. 23), Queens (Dec. 5), and Mercy (Dec. 12).

IN THE RANKINGS
Buntley leads the team and ranks third in the ECC in scoring (16.2 PPG). Pikett is the conference leader in steals (3.5 SPG) and ranks fourth in blocks (1.6 BPG). Montgomery is second in the conference steals (2.6 SPG), while Buntley (1.8 SPG) is ninth, and Joline Raposo (Tampa, Fla.) is 10th (1.7 SPG). Montgomery is also tied for fourth in assists (3.0 APG) while Fontanillo is tied for 10th (2.7 APG). As a team, the Wildcats lead the ECC in scoring (71.7 PPG) and have held their opponents to a conference-leading 56.1 PPG while sitting second in assists per game (15.25).

DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE
Daemen leads the ECC in steals per game (15.96 SPG), ranking fifth nationally. The Wildcats also lead the conference and are tied for ninth in blocks per game (4.92 BPG). Daemen has logged double-digit steals in all but one game this season. The Wildcats tallied 14 steals against D'Youville on Sunday, marking the sixth consecutive game with 14 or more. Daemen also logged 14 steals and six blocks against Mercy (Feb. 13) and 19 steals and seven blocks against STAC (Feb. 15). The Wildcats posted 19 steals at UDC and 18 at CSI. Daemen recorded 23 steals at Molloy (Jan. 18) and 22 at Queens (Jan. 16), its second and third most in a game this season, respectively. Daemen 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.

PERFECT IN JANUARY
Daemen went undefeated in January (8-0), with ECC wins over Roberts Wesleyan (86-49), D'Youville (63-45), Molloy (73-60), Queens (81-43), Staten Island (78-52), and the University of the District of Columbia (67-54). The Wildcats logged their second win over a nationally ranked opponent on Jan. 1, defeating #18 Bentley, 75-62. Daemen then beat Franklin Pierce 76-42 two days later, wrapping up its non-conference slate.

SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS (4-18, 1-13 ECC)
Roberts is coming off two losses last week, falling 70-65 to the University of the District of Columbia on Wednesday and 73-55 at Staten on Sunday. Jada Mushat leads the team in scoring (14.1 PPG) and steals (2.6 SPG). Barbora Fronková is averaging 13.0 PPG and 2.0 steals per game, while Aniyah Jones has logged 12.0 PPG and 5.0 rebounds per game. Erin Frazier is the team leader in blocks (1.5 BPG), rebounds (7.8 RPG), and tied with Tierra Hendrick in assists (2.3 APG).

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats are 58-25 all-time against Roberts and have won the last 11 meetings. Daemen earned an 86-49 victory at Lumsden Gymnasium on Jan. 31. Last season, the Wildcats defeated the Redhawks 70-46 on the road and 80-51 at home.

UP NEXT
Daemen will play in the ECC Semifinals on March 7. Stay tuned to daemenwildcats.com for more information after Saturday's ECC games.

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