Worcester, Mass. – Playing in their fourth straight NCAA Division II Tournament, the No. 6 seeded Daemen University women's basketball season came to an end with a 74-47 loss to No.3 seed Thomas Jefferson University in the quarterfinals of the East Region championship. The Wildcats' 10-game win streak was snapped with the loss, and Daemen finishes the 2022-23 campaign with a 20-5 overall record. The Rams avenge their 2022 East Region semifinal loss to the Wildcats and advance to the semifinals where they will face the winner of No. 2 Southern New Hampshire and No. 7 St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday.
The Wildcats opened up the scoring with a three from graduate student Paige Emborsky (Newfane, N.Y.), but Jefferson then went on a 12-2. The Rams shot 43-percent (9-of-21) from the field in the first quarter and held the momentum through the end of the first quarter to take a 21-11 lead after one.
Daemen and Jefferson each knocked down 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in the second quarter and each scored 18 second-quarter points. The Wildcats headed into the break down 39-29 at the half after shooting 38-percent (6-of-16) from the field. Junior guard Gabbie McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.) led the Wildcats with 8 first half points.
Emborsky scored the opening points in the second half with a quick layup, but the Jefferson defense stood tall in the third quarter, holding the Wildcats to just six points. The Rams outscored Daemen 14-6 in the third, with six of Jefferson's 14 points coming off free throws. Daemen trailed 53-35 heading into the final quarter of play.
The Wildcats hung with the Rams in the first half of the fourth quarter but were ultimately outscored 21-12 in the final quarter of play. Daemen finished the game shooting 29-percent from the field (18-of-63) while eight of Daemen's 18 buckets came in the form of three-point field goals, as the Cats shot 30-percent from beyond the arc (8-of-27).
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Junior guard Gabby McDuffie led all Daemen players for the second straight game, finishing with 14 points after shooting 39-percent (5-of-13) from the field and an impressive 44-percent (4-of-9) from three-point land. She tallied four rebounds, an assist and a steal on the day.
- Junior forward Natalie Angeletti (Panama, N.Y.) totaled 11 points after going 4-of-9 on the day, and finished with three rebounds.
- Guard Paige Emborsky capped off final college game with an eight-point outing against the Rams, finishing 3-of-7 from the field and 2-of-5 from beyond the arc. She pulled down five rebounds, including four defensive boards, in the game.
- Playing in her final game in a Daemen uniform, fifth year forward Mickayla Ivy (Grand Rapids, Mich.) finished with a team-high nine rebounds (seven defensive boards and two offensive boards), as well as three assists, a block and two points.
GAME NOTES
- The Wildcats are playing in their fourth straight NCAA Division II East Regional. Daemen won the 2021 East Region title and fell in the 2022 East Region championship.
- Jefferson is making their fifth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, and 14th in program history.
- Daemen had a hard time knocking down shots in the first. The Wildcats shot 24-percent (4-of-17) from the field, with three of their four shots in the first coming off three-point field goals (3-of-11 from beyond the arc). Daemen trailed 21-11 after one quarter of play.
- After being named the Most Outstanding Player of the ECC Tournament last weekend, junior guard Gabbie McDuffie led Daemen in the first with six points after going 2-of-4 from beyond the three-point line.
- All five Rams scored in the first quarter. Jefferson shot 43-percent from the field in the first and led by as much as 11 after one quarter of play.
- Emborsky, Matz and Paige each tallied second quarter three's.
- The Wildcats improved their second quarter shooting, going 6-of-16 (38-percent) from the field as seven different players tallied points.
- Daemen's six third-quarter points marks the second lowest in a quarter all season for the Wildcats.
- The Rams outscored the Wildcats 21-12 in the fourth quarter to finish with a 74-47 quarterfinal victory over Daemen. As the eighth seed in the 2022 East Region tournament, the Wildcats upset the fourth seeded Rams 70-52 in the East Region semifinals last season.
- Jefferson's Haley Meinel finished as the top scorer on the day with 22 points. Three other Rams totaled double-digit points, and Cassie Murphy and Sam Yencha both finished with a double-double.
- The Rams out-rebounded Daemen 50 to 38 tonight.
- Daemen moves to a 4-3 record in NCAA Division II Tournament play.
NOTABLE
- Paige Emborsky finished her collegiate career on Friday. The 5-foot-6 guard finished her one-year Daemen career with a team-high 284 points, averaging 11.4 ppg. She started in 24 of 25 games this season and led the team with 28.4 minutes per game. Emborsky led all Wildcats shooting 52.7-percent from the field (96-of-182). The sharpshooter finished the season shooting 59.1-percent (65-of-110) from beyond the arc, leading all Division II players throughout the year. Her 59.1-percent three-point field goal percentage sets an NCAA Division II record for highest three-point field goal percentage in a season, breaking the decades-old record of .563 set by Durene Heisler of North Dakota in 1990 (63-of-112) and Becky Mauck of North Alabama in 1998 (45-of-80).
Provided by the Daemen Sports Information Department.
