Amherst, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's basketball team made history this evening, in more ways than one.
First, the Wildcats played their first ever NCAA Division II Tournament game. Second, they registered their first ever NCAA Division II Tournament victory after posting a 73-54 win over Georgian Court University in the semifinal round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament East Regional.
Daemen is seeded second in the six-team regional and is serving as regional host. The Wildcats, who had their NCAA Tournament debut cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic last March, improved to 13-2 with the win. Third-seeded GCU, which posted a 61-54 victory over sixth-seeded Concordia University in the opening round Friday night, closes out the year with a 9-2 record. The Lions were making their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
Daemen will face either top-seeded Dominican College or fifth-seeded Roberts Wesleyan College in the regional championship game Monday night at Lumsden Gymnasium on the Daemen campus. The regional champion advances to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Elite Eight, which will take place at the Greater Columbus (Ohio) Convention Center from March 23-26.
Daemen entered tonight's the game ranked in both Division II national polls—a first for the Wildcats during their NCAA Division II era (2015—present). The Wildcats sit at No. 16 in this week's Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) media poll, and also come in at No. 15 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II top 25 coaches poll. GCU was ranked 24th in the D2SIDA poll.
IMPACT PLAYERS
- The trio of senior Caroline White (Fairport, N.Y.) and juniors Katie Titus (Penfield, N.Y.) and Mickayla Ivy (Grand Rapids, Mich.) carried the Wildcats to the historic win.
- White scored 14 points in the first half and finished with a game-game-high 20 points. The East Coast Conference Player of the Year, she also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds (seven offensive) and also added three assists and two steals. She now stands just one point shy of becoming the 26th member of Daemen's 1,000-Point Club. She has now totaled 999 points and 564 rebounds in 96 career games.
- Titus scored in double figures for the seventh-straight game and finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks. She connected on 6-of-13 shots overall and drained a team-high three three-pointers.
- Ivy scored a team-high eight points in the second half and finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
- Daemen's bench played a big role tonight, as the Wildcats posted a 17-1 advantage in bench points. Redshirt freshman Alina Estrella (Brooklyn, N.Y.) played 24 minutes off the bench and totaled eight points, while sophomore Marina Maerkl (Binghamton, N.Y.) added five points and three rebounds in just 12 minutes of action. Junior Mary Foster (Elmira, N.Y.) contributed four points and four boards in 12 minutes.
- Freshman Anyssa Fields, the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Player and Defensive Player of the Year, paced the Lions with 18 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sophomore forward Andjela Kremenvic added 13 points, while sophomore guard Tian Addison chipped in 12 points, five rebounds and three assists. Junior forward Leighanna Lister, who totaled a triple double (18 points, 14 rebounds, 10 blocks) in GCU's first round win, was limited to six points, 10 rebounds and three blocks tonight.
QUARTER-BY-QUARTER SUMMARY
First Quarter (Daemen 18, Georgian Court 15) - GCU hit three three-pointers early in the game and the Lions opened up a 15-9 lead following a triple by Addison with 5:47 left in the quarter. Neither team scored for the next two minutes, before the hosts closed out the quarter on a 9-0 run. White drained a triple during the run and a jumper by Estrella with 20 seconds left in the frame capped the rally and gave Daemen an 18-15 lead.
Second Quarter (Daemen 28, Georgian Court 15) - The teams traded buckets at the start of the second quarter, before the a put back by White sparked the hosts on a 12-4 run. White and Titus accounted for all the scoring during the run and when White fed Titus for a layup with 5:56 left before halftime the Daemen lead was at double digits, 32-21. The Daemen lead was down to six points, 34-28, with just over three minutes left before halftime when the Wildcats put together a quarter-ending 12-2 run. Two free throws by Ivy with eight seconds left in the quarter capped the spurt and gave Daemen a 46-30 lead.
Third Quarter (Daemen 15, Georgian Court 12) - The Daemen lead grew to 22 points, 55-33, following back-to-back layups by Ivy and Estrella early in the third quarter and the teams then traded baskets before GCU cut the lead to 17 (59-42) following a 7-2 run buy the Lions. A jumper by Estrella with 13 seconds left in the quarter gave Daemen a 19-point lead heading into the final quarter.
Fourth Quarter (Daemen 12, Georgian Court 12) - Daemen took its largest lead of the game, 69-45, following a layup by White three minutes int the fourth quarter, and GCU came no closer than 16 points the rest of the game.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Daemen shot 47-percent (9-of-19) during the second quarter and finished 27-of-63 (43%) from the field overall. The Wildcats made just 4-of-15 from downtown, but connected on 15-of-19 from the charity stripe.
- GCU made just 3-of-13 shots (23%) in the third quarter and finished just 19-of-58 (33%) from the field overall. The visitors made 5-of-15 from long range and went 11-for-17 from the free throw line.
- Daemen finished with a 43-34 edge in total rebounds. Daemen also finished with an edge in points off turnovers (21-20), second chance points (12-10) and points in the paint (42-16).
HEAD COACH JENEPHER BANKER POST-GAME COMMENTS
On The Historic Win
"It feels amazing. Amazing that there even was a NCAA tournament, amazing that we were playing in the tournament and amazing that it was on our home floor. And then we get our first win. Could not be happier."
On Contributions From The Bench
"We knew we were fortunate to have a few more numbers than they did and they also had to play last night. We wanted to keep the ball moving and keep running, and we were able to do that with help from our bench."
GAME NOTES
- Daemen is coming off an impressive 2019-20 campaign. The Wildcats finished 23-5 last year, claimed their first-ever ECC tournament title and earned their first-ever selection to the NCAA Division II Championship.
- Daemen was without the services of redshirt senior Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.) due to injury. The ECC Preseason Player of the Year and first-team All-ECC selection, she is averaging 13.3 points per game this season and ranks 20th among Daemen's all-time leading scorers with 1,096 points in 93 career games. Reserve guard Autumn Buchsenschutz (Port Allegany, Pa.), who is averaging nearly 20 minutes a game, also did not see action tonight.
- Titus has now registered at least one block in 14-straight games. She has totaled a league-high 36 blocks this season and has become the 11th player in program history to record 100 career rejections. She ranks ninth in career blocks at Daemen with 123.
- Tonight's game marked the first meeting between the two schools since the 1993-94 season.
- Daemen has held 13 of its 15 opponents to less than 40-percent shooting from the field and has forced 15 or more turnovers in 12 of its 15 games. The Wildcats forced a season-high 23 turnovers tonight.
- The Wildcats have won 28 of their last 32 games dating back to last season, and 50 of their last 59 games dating back to the 2018-19 season.
- Daemen has held 37 of its last 43 opponents to 65 points or fewer, posting a 34-3 record in those contests.
NEXT JUMP BALL
Daemen will play for the NCAA East Region championship Monday (March 15). Game time is 6 p.m. at Lumsden Gymnasium.
Provided by the Daemen Sports Information Department.
