Survive And Advance! No. 2 Daemen Women's Basketball Moving On To East Region Semifinals

WALTHAM, Mass. – Death, taxes, and Jenepher Banker's Daemen University women's basketball team in March. For the second straight season, the No. 2 seeded Wildcats are advancing to the NCAA Division II East Region semifinals after taking down No. 7 seed Jefferson University 70-48 in the quarterfinal round on Friday afternoon. The Wildcats, who are the reigning East Region champions, improve to 22-7 overall and will face No. 3 seed Holy Family University in the semifinals on Saturday at 5 PM. Three Wildcats, Claire Pikett (Holland, N.Y.), Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) Sophie Auer (Lewiston, N.Y.) scored in the double digits and helped lead Daemen to shooting 50% (30-of-60) from the field and 34% (8-of-23) beyond the arc in the victory. Daemen scored 70+ points for the 10th game this season and shot 50% or better for the second straight game and fourth time this season. Today's game marked the fourth consecutive season that the Wildcats and Rams met in the East Region Tournament. Daemen is 3-1 all-time against the Rams and has won the last two meetings (2024 East Region Championship, 2025 East Region quarterfinals).   IMPACT PLAYERS Pikett scored a career-high 22 points after going 71% (10-of-14) from the field and 2-of-5 beyond the arc while adding four assists, three steals and three rebounds. Lapertosa finished with her third straight double-double –seventh of the season – after totaling 18 points and 14 rebounds. The junior forward shot 8-of-15 from the field, had six offensive boards and eight defensive rebounds, and added two blocks and one assist on the night. Auer totaled 13 points while shooting 6-of-11 from the field and added a three ball while adding five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Graduate student guard Danielle DiCintio (Somers, N.Y.) was one point and one assist shy of a triple-double, finishing with nine points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. DiCintio added one block and one steal on the night. INSIDE THE BOX SCORE The Rams put the first points of the game with a putback basket and following a pair of defensive steals, took a 6-0 lead over the Wildcats in the first minute and a half of game play. Pikett got the Wildcats on the board with a layup, and DiCintio and Buntley added triples to the mix to bring Daemen within two, 10-8, early.  Daemen went on an 11-5 run to close out the quarter with buckets from Auer, DiCintio and Lapertosa and led the Rams 19-15 after the first. The Wildcats shot 53% (8-of-15) from the field and 50% (3-of-6) beyond the arc in the first. In the first five and a half minutes of the second quarter, Daemen and Jefferson took turns scoring with both teams accounting for seven points to give the Cats the 26-22 lead. A Rams jumper brought the game within two, 26-24, but in the final 3:23 of the half the Wildcats outscored the Rams 7-2 with a triple and layup from Auer and a jumper from Lapertosa to take a 33-26 advantage into the break. Daemen allowed just four Ram field goals in the second quarter and held Jefferson to shoot 30% in the second. At the half, the Wildcats shot 50% (14-of-28) from the field and 38% (5-of-13) beyond the arc with Auer leading all players with 11 points. Jefferson opened the third on a 7-3 run to bring the game within three, 36-33, but the Wildcats stopped the run with a lob to Pikett who finished with a layup. Pikett would score eight of Daemen's next 13 points to close out the third with a commanding 51-39 lead over the Rams. After going 8-of-13 from the field in the third, the Wildcats are shooting 51% from the field in the game after three quarters. Daemen and Jefferson went back-and-forth scoring in the first five minutes of the fourth, but just like the previous three quarters, the Wildcats put together a run to expand their lead. With Lapertosa leading the way down the stretch, Daemen outscored the Rams 12-2 in the final 3:30 minutes to take down Jefferson 70-48 and advance to the East Region semifinals for the second straight year. GAME NOTES The Wildcats won their fourth consecutive – fifth in the last five seasons – East Coast Conference Tournament championship last weekend after beating No. 5 seed Molloy (62-44) and No. 2 seed Staten Island (76-68) in the tournament. Daemen is in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight season after earning the ECC's automatic bid with the tournament title. With the win, Daemen is 9-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 9-2 all-time in the East Region Tournament. Daemen has eclipsed 20+ wins for the fourth straight season and fifth time in six years. Three Wildcat players earned All-Conference accolades from the ECC. Claire Pikett was named to the All-ECC First Team, Danielle DiCintio earned Second Team All-ECC and Ne'vaeh Buntley picked up Third Team All-ECC honors. Head coach Jenepher Banker was named the ECC Coach of the Year for the fourth time in her career by her peers.
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