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Women's Basketball Courtesy of Daemen University Sports Information

Elite Eight-Bound No. 6 Daemen Tops No. 4 Jefferson, 69-62, To Win Second East Region Title

WALTHAM, Mass. – ELITE EIGHT BOUND AGAIN! For the second time in four seasons, the Daemen University women's basketball team punched their ticket to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, winning the program's second East Region Championship with a 69-62 win over No. 4 seed Jefferson University on Monday evening. The Wildcats, who entered the 2024 East Regional as the No. 6 seed, won their eighth straight game, and improve to 23-7 on the year. Playing in their third East Region championship game in four seasons, the Wildcats picked up their second championship in eight days after winning their third straight East Coast Conference Championship on Sunday, March 10 to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

Daemen's standout senior guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) was named the Most Valuable Player of the East Region. Paige finished the tournament with 61 total points, averaging 20.3 points per game in each of their three victories in the East Regional Senior forward Natalie Angeletti (Panama, N.Y.) also earned East Region All-Tournament Team honors.
 
Jefferson opened the game on a 9-4 run, with the Wildcats' first two scores of the game coming on layups from Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) and Angeletti. Julia Hauer (Binghamton, N.Y.) knocked down back-to-back layups after putting in the work under the basket to keep the game within four, 12-8, with three minutes left in the first. Daemen would go on a 5-2 run to end the quarter and bring the game within three, 16-13, at the end of the first.
 
The Wildcats came out on fire to start the second because Angeletti got hot. The senior opened the quarter with a layup and drawing the foul, tied the game at 16 a piece, and followed up with a triple to give Daemen their first lead of the game since 4-2 early in the first. The Rams and Angeletti traded three's for the next two minutes to bring the game up at 22 halfway through the quarter. From there, the Wildcats scored nine unanswered points after a jumper from Gabby McDuffie (Buffalo, N.Y.), layups from Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) and Shyla Montgomery (Brockton, Mass.) and a three from Paige to give Daemen the 31-22 advantage. Jefferson banked a pair of baskets late to cut the Wildcat lead down to five points, but a clutch jumper from Paige with six seconds on the clock sent Daemen to the half with a 33-26 advantage. The Wildcats outscored the Rams 20-10 in the second quarter.
 
Jefferson opened the second half scoring 10 unanswered points to take a 36-33 lead over the Wildcats in the first four minutes of the third quarter. Lapertosa and Hauer snapped the scoring drought with a pair of back-to-back layups to make it 37-36, Daemen on top. After a Ram bucket to regain the lead, Daemen went on a 6-0 run with a jumper from Paige and layups from Lapertosa and Sophie Auer (Lewiston, N.Y.) to give the Wildcats a five-point lead, 43-38. Daemen would close out the third quarter on a 6-2 run to take a 49-40 lead into the final 10 minutes of play. Going 8-of-13 from the field, Daemen shot 61.5% in the third quarter.
 
Just like in the beginning of the third quarter, Jefferson went on a run to open the fourth quarter, scoring 11 of 14 points in the first four and a half minutes of the quarter to cut the lead to one, 52-51. Pikett drilled a triple, and after taking an elbow to the face and sitting out for a few minutes in the fourth quarter, Paige put an exclamation point on the game with a three of her own to bring the Cats up 58-51 with 4:04 left to play. Jefferson would knock down a triple and a pair of layups but wouldn't ever be able to bring the gap closer than four points. Daemen nailed free throws down the stretch to finish the game with a 69-62 victory.
 
23 wins ties Daemen's Division II era (2015-present) win record. The Wildcats went 23-5 during the 2019-20 season when they punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
 
IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Earning All-Tournament Team honors for the first time in her four-year Daemen career, Angeletti scored double-digit points for the third straight game, leading the Wildcats offensively with 16 points after shooting 5-of-8 from the field and knocking down both triples and all four free throws while snagging six rebounds and a steal.
  • 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, totaled 14 points on the day. The East Region MVP shot 5-of-17 from the field, 2-of-8 from beyond the arc and drained both free throws. Paige totaled five assists, two rebounds and two steals.
  • Sophomore forward Cecilia Lapertosa finished with her second double-double of the season, scoring 11 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Lapertosa banked 5-of-6 from the field and added two assists and a free throw in the win.
  • Junior forward Julia Hauer totaled eight points after shooting 100% from the field (4-of-4) and added four rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
  • Freshman guard Sophie Auer finished with seven points, going 3-of-5 from the field and 1-of-2 beyond the arc while adding six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
  • Daemen shot 50% (26-of-52) from the field and 33% (6-of-18) from beyond the arc.
  • Nine Wildcats recorded points in the game tonight. On top of three players – two starters – scoring in the double-figures, the Wildcats totaled 28 bench points.
  • Playing against the 11th-ranked defense in the country, the Wildcats out-rebounded the Rams 43 to 21, pulling down 12 offensive boards and an impressive 31 defensive rebounds on the day.
GAME NOTES
  • This marked the third time that Daemen and Jefferson met, and the third time the two teams squared off in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats won the first matchup against Jefferson with a 70-52 semifinal victory in the 2022 regional, but the Rams came out with a 74-47 win in the 2023 East Region quarterfinals to end ended the Wildcats' postseason run last year.
  • Playing in the NCAA Division II Tournament for the fifth consecutive season, the Wildcats are 7-3 all-time in The Big Dance. Daemen holds a 2-1 record in East Region championship games after beating Roberts Wesleyan in 2021 but falling to Pace in the 2022 Sweet 16.
  • Three senior Wildcats – Alahna Paige, Natalie Angeletti and Kaytlyn Matz – who have played their entire career at Daemen are advancing to the Elite Eight for the second time in their careers. Daemen has won East Region Championship in Paige, Angeletti and Matz's freshman season (2020-21) and senior season (2023-24), bookending the trio's careers.
  • The Wildcats are headed to St. Joseph, Missouri for the 2024 NCAA Division II Elite Eight. They will open play on Monday, March 25 at the St. Joseph Civic Center.
  • Jefferson entered Monday's East Region Championship ranked No. 3 by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). The Wildcats, who picked up the program's first win over a top-five team earlier this season after taking down No. 5 Ferris State, earn their first win over a top-three team by beating the Rams.