Women's Basketball Courtesy of Daemen University Sports Information

No. 6 Daemen Advances To NCAA Women's Basketball East Region Finals With 68-58 Win Over No. 2 Assumption

WALTHAM, Mass. – The Daemen University women's basketball team is Sweet Sixteen bound! The sixth-seeded Wildcats upset second-seed Assumption University 68-58 in the NCAA Division II East Region semifinals on Saturday night to punch their ticket to the East Region Finals on Monday night. The Wildcats improve to 22-7 on the year and, winning their sixth game all-time in the NCAA Tournament, advance to the regional championship game for the third time in four seasons (2021, 22, 24).
 
Dominant from the jump, Daemen led for 31 minutes in this game. Assumption's largest lead was 2-0 at 9:04 in the first quarter, the first points of the day. Playing her best season of college basketball, Daemen senior guard Alahna Paige's (Rochester, N.Y.) big second half was the difference-maker for the Wildcats. Entering the half, the senior had just four points – but after a 17-point second half, Paige finished with a team-high 21 points as she led the Wildcats offensively for the 25th game this season. Paige was one of three Wildcats
 
The game was close from the start, with both teams trading baskets in the first quarter. Daemen closed out the first on a 12-7 run to lead 16-13 after the first 10 minutes of the play. The Wildcats scored eight unanswered points in the start of the second quarter to take a 10-point lead – their largest of the game – 26-16 over the Greyhounds, but from there Assumption went on an 11-point tear and made it a one-point game, 28-27, with the Wildcats on top at the half. Each team went on runs in the evenly matched third quarter, and with Assumption scoring 15 points and Daemen scoring 14, we headed into the final 10 minutes of the game tied up at 42. Both teams traded buckets but Daemen kicked off the fourth on a 10-6 run. Assumption tied the game up at 56 with four minutes left in the game after a 10-4 run of their own, but from there, Daemen turned up the heat and never looked back, scoring 12 of the final 14 points in the game to outscore Assumption 26-16 in the fourth quarter.
 
Playing against the fourth-ranked defense in NCAA Division II women's basketball, Daemen shot 44% from the field (28-of-63) and banked just three of 18 triples in on the day, adding 9-of-16 from the charity stripe. Assumption, who ranked sixth in the nation with a 46.2 shooting percentage on the year, finished 40% from the field (23-of-57). D2CCA First Team honoree Molly Stokes led the Greyhounds with 23 points on the day and was the only Assumption player to score in the double figures.
 
The Wildcats will face fourth-seeded Jefferson in the East Region Championship game on Monday evening at 7 PM. 
 
IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Paige, who was named both the Division II Commissioners Conference Association (D2CCA) Player of the Year and East Coast Conference Player of the Year after her standout regular season, shot 43% from the field (10-of-23) and was 1-of-9 from beyond the arc in her 21-point outing on Saturday night. The senior added three rebounds and one assist on the day.
  • Senior forward Natalie Angeletti (Panama, N.Y.) totaled double-digit points for the second straight game, finishing with 12 points after going 5-of-8 from the field and 2-of-3 from the charity stripe. Angeletti finished with her first double-double of the season after totaling 10 rebounds – including three offensive boards – and added a steal to her game stats.
  • Senior guard Gabby McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.) scored 12 points, going 4-of-11 from the field, 1-of-2 beyond the arc and 3-of-5 from the free throw line while adding six rebounds, two assists and one steal.
  • Playing a team-high 34 minutes tonight, senior guard Kaytlyn Matz (Johnsburg, Ill.) totaled eight points after going 3-of-9 from the field, 1-of-5 beyond the arc and 1-of-2 from the free throw line along with six rebounds, one assist, one steal and two blocks.
GAME NOTES
  • The Wildcats and Greyhounds traded points for the first five minutes of the first quarter, but a triple from Paige lifted Daemen up 7-6 with 4:26 minutes left. After an Angeletti defensive rebound on the other end of the court, Matz added a three to make it 10-6 but an Assumption layup stopped the 6-0 Daemen run and made it a two-point game. Auer drained a jumper to give the Wildcats a 12-8 lead and Paige totaled her fourth point of the game, adding a layup with 1:43 left in the quarter. Assumption knocked down a layup of their own 13 seconds later, but following a steal from Julia Hauer (Binghamton, N.Y.), Montgomery put up a layup to bring Daemen up 16-13 at the end of the first.
  • The Wildcats shot 37% from the field (7-of-19) and went 2-of-8 from beyond the arc in the first. Matz totaled five first-quarter points.
  • Daemen and Assumption each drained buckets for the first minute of the second, but from there, the Wildcats scored eight unanswered points off baskets from McDuffie, Matz and Angeletti and a pair of free throws from Pikett to give Daemen a 10-point lead, 26-16, with six minutes left in the half. With Paige sidelined in the second after a pair of early fouls, Assumption went on an 11-0 run for the next four and a half minutes to take a 27-26 lead with 1:36 left in the second quarter. Daemen took the one-point advantage at the half after McDuffie drained a layup as the Wildcats went into the break with an 28-27 advantage.
  • Daemen made 38% of their shots in the second quarter (5-of-13 from the field) and missed all four triples attempted. Matz and McDuffie each tallied seven points in the first half.
  • Back-to-back baskets from Paige and Angeletti opened the third quarter for the Wildcats on a 5-0 run, but Assumption responded with a layup and a triple of their own to tie the game up at 32 two minutes into the quarter. Pikett knocked down a layup and Paige added a triple to score five unanswered points and jump out to a 37-32 lead. Assumption scored 10 of the final 15 points of the third quarter, and a field goal from Matz tied the game up at 42 going into the final 10 minutes of the game.
  • Daemen was 6-of-16 from the field in the third, and Paige scored seven of Daemen's 14 third quarter points.
  • The Wildcats and Greyhounds traded buckets for the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, with Daemen opening the fourth on a 10-6 run, 52-46. For the next two minutes, Assumption went on a 10-4 run of their own, tying the game up at 56 with 4:21 left in the game. As they have in the past four games, Daemen held tough down the stretch, scoring 12 points while allowing the Greyhounds to score just two in the final minutes of the game. Daemen outscored Assumption 26 to 16 in the fourth quarter with the Wildcats going 10-of-15 from the field in the final quarter. Paige scored 10 fourth-quarter points, adding to her seven third-quarter points to finish with 21 points in the game.
  • Assumption committed 12 turnovers in the game, and the Wildcats converted 18 points off turnovers.
  • Daemen is 2-0 all-time against the Greyhounds. The Wildcats won the first-ever meeting 73-48 between these two teams on Nov. 10, 2018.
  • In her 26-point outing against Saint Rose on Friday night, Paige became the first women's basketball player in Daemen's Division II era (2015-present) to score 600 points in a single season, and the seventh player to cross 600 single-season points in program history.