Four Straight! No. 1 Daemen Defeats No. 2 Staten Island, 76-68, To Win ECC Women's Basketball Championship

Recap courtesy of Mary Margaret Johnson, Daemen University Sports Information AMHERST, NY – FOUR STRAIGHT CHAMPIONSHIPS!! For the fourth consecutive season and fifth time in six years, the top-seeded Daemen University women's basketball team win the East Coast Conference Tournament title after topping No. 2 seed Staten Island 76-68 in the 2025 ECC Tournament Championship game on Sunday afternoon. Daemen junior forward Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament after tallying a double-double in both games and finishing with 30 points and 26 rebounds. Sophomore guard Sophie Auer (Lewiston, N.Y.) and freshman forward Ne'vaeh Buntley (Rochester, N.Y.) were also named to the All-Tournament team. All five Daemen starters scored in the double digits in the win. The Wildcats shot a season-high 52.6% (30-of-57) from the field today and went 47.1% (8-of-17) beyond the arc while holding the Dolphins to shooting 43.1% from the field and 40.9% from three-point land. The Wildcats will find out their seeding and regional tournament location along with the entire 64-team bracket tonight during the NCAA Selection Show that will be broadcast on NCAA.com at 10:30 PM. IMPACT PLAYERS Lapertosa followed up an incredible semifinal performance with another stellar game today, totaling a team-high 16 points after shooting 53.8% (7-of-13) from the field and going 100% (2-of-2) beyond the arc in the victory while tallying her sixth double-double of the season, adding a team-high 10 rebounds on the day. The junior forward totaled a team-high five offensive boards along with a game-high four blocks, two assists and one steal on the day. Buntley was two rebounds shy of her second straight double-double, totaling 15 points after shooting 42.9% (6-of-14) from the field and went 2-of-4 beyond the arc along with eight rebounds, one block and one assist. Junior guard Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.) totaled 14 points after shooting 50% from both the field (5-of-10) and beyond the arc (2-of-4) and added a team-high seven assists, six rebounds, two steals and one block. Auer finished with 14 points after going 83.3% (5-of-6) from the field along with six rebounds and five assists in the win. Graduate student guard Danielle DiCintio (Somers, N.Y.) totaled 10 points after going 4-of-9 from the field and banked a triple while adding a rebound on the day. INSIDE THE BOX SCORE The Wildcats opened the game on fire, taking a 12-5 lead over CSI early after Auer and Lapertosa both scored six points off layups. Daemen remained in control throughout the quarter and closed out the first on an 11-8 run with triples from DiCintio, Joline Raposo (Tampa, Fla.) and Pikett and a putback layup from Buntley to lead the Dolphins 23-15 after the first 10 minutes of play. The Cats shot 50% (10-of-20) from the field and 60% (3-of-5) beyond the arc while outrebounding CSI 11-7 in the first quarter. Daemen started the second with a pair of layups from Buntley and Pikett and led by 10 points two minutes into the start. From there, CSI went on a 20-13 run for the rest of the second quarter and made it a three-point game at the half, 40-37. The Dolphins shot 50% from the field (7-of-14) in the second while the Cats were 44% (7-of-16) from the field. Staten Island scored the first bucket of the second half to make it a one-point game, 40-39 but a layup and a pair of free throws from Auer extended Daemen's lead back to four, 44-39. The Dolphins went on a 12-9 run in the middle of the quarter, and with one minute left in the third, CSI took the lead for the first time, 54-53, with a triple and added a layup with 24 seconds left. DiCintio capped off the quarter with a driving layup to bring it within one, 55-56, after three. After starting the fourth on an 12-4 run, the Wildcats regained the lead, 67-60 and never relinquished it. CSI scored back-to-back triples to make it a one-point game, 67-66, but the Cats closed out the game with a 9-2 run off four free throws, a Lapertosa triple and a DiCintio layup to win the game 76-68 and take home the ECC Tournament title for the fourth straight year and fifth in six seasons. GAME NOTES The Wildcats have won eight straight ECC tournament games dating back to their 2021 loss to Roberts Wesleyan in the championship game. Daemen won their fourth consecutive ECC tournament title today and own the longest win streak in ECC tournament history since Saint Rose won six straight from 1995 to 2000.   Daemen out-rebounded Staten Island 34 to 25 today. The five Wildcat starters accounted for all of Daemen's rebounds today. The Wildcats are ranked second in the East Region in the third and final NCAA Regional Rankings, released on Wednesday by the regional advisory committee. The full 64 team bracket for the 2025 NCAA Division II Tournament will be released in the selection show on Sunday at 10:30 PM on NCAA.com. Daemen won their sixth straight ECC regular season title this season after going 15-1 in ECC play. The Wildcats are 12-1 at home this season. Perfect at home this season with the exception of the 74-77 loss to RV Indiana (Pa.) on Jan. 3, the Wildcats are even more impressive on home court in the postseason and have not dropped a postseason game at Lumsden since falling to Roberts Wesleyan 59-53 in the 2021 ECC Championship. Daemen owns a 10-1 record in postseason play at home since the 2020-21 season. Three Wildcats earned All-Conference honors ahead of this weekend's tournament. Claire Pikett was named to the ECC First Team, Danielle DiCintio earned Second Team All-ECC, and Ne'vaeh Buntley was named to the ECC Third Team. Head coach Jenepher Banker also was named the ECC Coach of the Year for the fourth time in her career at the helm. 
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