AMHERST, N.Y. – THREE-PEAT! The top-seeded Daemen University women's basketball team won their third consecutive East Coast Conference Championship title, and their fourth in five years, with a 55-50 win over second-seed Mercy in the ECC Championship game at Lumsden Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon. The winners of the past five ECC regular season titles, the Wildcats move to 19-7 on the year and punch their ticket to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the fifth straight season, earning the conference's automatic bid to the tournament with the win today.  
 
After being named the ECC Player of the Year on Thursday and tallying the buzzer beater game-winning three in the semifinals on Saturday, Daemen senior guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) was named the Most Outstanding Player for the ECC Tournament after totaling 27 points in the final this afternoon and capping off the tournament with 50 total points after finishing with 23 in the semifinal yesterday. Senior Gabby McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.) and sophomore Shyla Montgomery (Brockton, Mass.) were also named to the ECC All-Tournament Team.
 
After opening the game down 7-2, the Wildcats went on an 8-2 run to end the first quarter down just one point, 10-9. Daemen and Mercy traded points throughout the second, and after Daemen took a 22-18 lead with two minutes left in the half, the Mavericks scored four unanswered points to tie the game up at 22 at the half. Just like the first two quarters as it was in the two regular season match ups between these top two teams, Daemen and Mercy played even, with both teams banking 14 points in the quarter after knocking down six shots from the field. Mercy went 6-of-14 while the Wildcats went 6-of-15 but both were 1-of-4 from beyond the arc in the third, and the Wildcats and Mavericks were tied up at 36 going into the final 10 minutes of play. Mercy led by as much as eight points in the final six minutes, 48-40, but from there, Daemen scored 12 unanswered points to garner a lead with one minute left, and with clutch free throws from Julia Hauer (Binghamton, N.Y.), Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) and Paige down the stretch, the Wildcats held on to win their third straight ECC Tournament title on their home court.
 
The Wildcats will find out who they play in the NCAA Division II East Region Tournament in the Selection Show on Sunday at 10:30 PM on NCAA.com.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Paige was Daemen's sole double-digit scorer today, totaling 27 points after shooting 35% from the field (8-of-23) and was the only Wildcat to connect beyond the arc, going 4-of-10 on the day and adding 7-of-10 free throws. The game's Most Outstanding Player finished with six rebounds – five defensive – and a team-high five assists while adding two steals. Paige played all 40 minutes of the game.
• Montgomery totaled eight points after going a perfect 100% from the field, making all four buckets today. The sophomore guard finished with a team-high five steals and three rebounds.
• Hauer capped an impressive game with eight points after going 3-of-6 from the field and added 2-of-3 from the free throw line while posting six assists, two rebounds, one block and two steals in the win.
• Playing in her final game at Lumsden Gymnasium, senior forward Natalie Angeletti (Holland, N.Y.) led the way defensively for the Wildcats with seven rebounds – four offensive boards – and added an assist. 

GAME NOTES

• The first quarter opened up back-and-forth, with the Mavericks getting on the board first with a Jaclyn Stanavich layup, then the Wildcats responding one minute later with a Pikett layup to even it up. Mercy took a five-point lead after back-to-back buckets from First Team All-ECC player Katie Wall, but a big triple from Paige made it a two-point game once again, 7-5. Following a Julia Hauer (Binghamton, N.Y.) driving layup down low and a pair of Mercy free throws, Paige made it a one-point game after a jumper in the final 20 seconds of the quarter to bring the score to 10-9, Mercy on top after one.
• Paige tied the game up at 12 two and a half minutes into the second quarter with a three from the top of the key. A pair of Wildcat free throws and a Hauer jumper gave Daemen their first lead of the game, 14-12. Shyla Montgomery (Brockton, Mass.) and McDuffie's back-to-back layups lifted the Wildcats to a four-point lead, 22-18, but the Mavs erased the Daemen led with two made free throws and a jumper to tie the game up at 22, and that's where the score would stay at the half. Daemen shot 33% from the field (9-of-27) at the half. Paige led the Wildcats with 10-first half points.
• Mercy scored back-to-back buckets to start the third quarter, but a Pikett jumper stopped the Mercy run and a triple from Paige once again put the Wildcats on top, 27-26. The Mavericks scored six unanswered points from there to take a seven-point lead, 34-27, the biggest lead of the game. With three minutes left in the quarter, Montgomery stopped the Mercy run with a layup from the blocks, Paige added a layup and McDuffie banked a jumper to bring the game within two, 36-34. With 30 seconds left, Paige banked a layup off the boards to tie the game at 36, and that would be the last score of the third quarter.
• The Mavericks opened the scoring in the fourth with a triple and took a five-point lead over the Wildcats, but a pull up jumper from Paige stopped the Mercy run and brought the game within one, 41-40. Following a Mavericks jumper, triple and layup, Mercy took an eight-point lead over the Cats. Montgomery stopped the 9-3 Maverick run with a layup in transition after a midcourt steal, and made it a two-point game, 48-46, with a layup after Hauer picked off the Mercy inbounds pass. The Mavs were called for an offensive foul, and at the other end of the court Hauer banked a pair of free throws to tie the game up at 48 with 1:40 left to play. In the final minute of the game, Paige banked a putback bucket to give the Wildcats the 50-48 lead. Lapertosa drained both free throws with 19 seconds left to give Daemen a 52-48 lead, but on the other end of the court the Mavs made their two free throws to again make it a two-point game. Fouled almost immediately, Paige was 2-for-2 from the free throw stripe to make it a four-point game once again. With six seconds left in the game, Paige banked the final free throw of the game to give Daemen the 55-50 win.
• Daemen shot 35% (19-of-52) from the field, 4-of-18 from beyond the arc and 13-of-20 from the charity stripe today. The Wildcats out-rebounded the Mavericks 39 to 36, with the difference coming from Daemen's 13 offensive boards compared to 10 for Mercy.
• The Wildcats scored 24 points off Mercy's 24 total turnovers on the day. The Mavs collected just 12 points off Daemen's 21 turnovers.
• The Wildcats are now 9-1 at home in the postseason and have gone 2-0 in each of the last three seasons.