2026 East Coast Conference Women's Basketball Championship Central
AMHERST, N.Y. – The top two seeds in the 2026 East Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Championship will meet on Sunday to decide the tournament crown as both won their respective games on Saturday afternoon.
In two physical contests, top-seeded Daemen University and second-seeded Mercy University advanced to Sunday’s championship contest. Daemen took care of fifth-seeded College of Staten Island 75-61, while Mercy fended off third-seeded Molloy University, 61-55.
Daemen and Mercy will meet for the second time in the last three years, as Daemen defeated the Mavericks 55-50 in the 2024 championship game. Daemen is seeking its fifth straight ECC title while Mercy is looking for its first in school history.
No. 1 Daemen 75, No. 5 Staten Island 61 - Box Score |
Daemen Press Conference |
Staten Island Press Conference
Ne’vaeh Buntley scored a game-high 24 points as the Wildcats (23-3) put four players in double figures en route to the win. Sophie Auer had 12 points, with Joline Raposo with 11 off the bench in the win. Shyla Montgomery had ten for Daemen, who shot 18-for-32 (56.3 percent in the first half.
Staten Island (12-18) got 20 points from Kyra Rose, 15 from Shonyae Edmonds, and 14 from Racky Kane. Edmonds ended up with a double-double as she collected 11 rebounds, with Dana Phelan grabbing ten. The Dolphins had a 38-36 edge on the glass.
Daemen, who are the defending champions, went on a 16-0 run to open the contest, capped by a layup from Raposo with 3:04 left in the first quarter. The Wildcats got the lead as high as 22 points in the first two quarters before settling on a 45-26 lead at intermission.
The Dolphins battled back in the second half, getting within ten late in the fourth quarter at 68-58 on a pair of foul shots by Edmonds, but could get no closer.
No. 2 Mercy 61, No. 3 Molloy 55 - Box Score |
Mercy Press Conference |
Molloy Press Conference
Mercy put three players in double figures, paced by 20 points from Amani Abuhatab (game-high) and 15 points from Grace Lesko. Angelina Barrera had 13 points for the Mavericks (22-6).
For Molloy, Rosa Rizzitelli had 16 points, with Sophia Yearwood getting 15. Colleen McCullagh had 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Lions (13-17) held a commanding 43-30 lead on the glass, with Sharmeela Ugbogbo also having 11 caroms for the Lions.
Molloy jumped out to an early 15-7 lead in the first quarter on a layup by Yearwood, before Mercy went on an 8-2 run to close the quarter to cut the deficit to 17-15.
In the second quarter, Mercy took the lead but could only extend it to four, three times with the last instance coming at 28-24 just 1:22 before intermission on a layup by Grace Lesko.
Midway through the third quarter, Molloy regained the lead at 31-29 on a three-pointer by Yearwood, before Mercy went on a short 7-0 run capped by a layup from Abuhatab with 2:05 left in the third quarter to make the score 36-31.
In the fourth, Molloy rallied as the Lions were down by eight with 6:53 left in the contest (45-37) to knot the game at 48-all with 2:25 left on a jumper by Jamie Davneiro. Mercy closed the game outscoring the Lions 13-7. Eight of those points came from the foul line, as the Mavericks went 8-for-9 from the line in the final 2:25. Abuhatab went 7-for8 during that stretch.
Prior to the game, Mercy sophomore Caitlin Leary was honored as the ECC’s Elite 20 Winner for Women’s Basketball. Modeled after the NCAA's Elite 90 Award, this award is presented to a competing student-athlete with the highest-grade point average in each of the conference's 20 championships. Leary has a perfect 4.0 GPA as a Health Science major.