Manchester, N.H. – The last time a number eight seed defeated the top-seed in the NCAA DII Women's Basketball East Regionals was back in 2015 when Holy Family upset Adelphi in Garden City, N.Y. To put in perspective, when this happened, the current Daemen Wildcat players were playing at either the varsity or junior varsity level.
Tonight, Daemen's women's basketball added another notch to their lengthy resume – and, more importantly, live to fight another day.
Behind a game-high 27 points (17 in the second half alone) from redshirt senior Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.), the Wildcats defeated top-seeded Southern New Hampshire, 70-59, in the third of four quarterfinal matchups held in the Stan Spirou Field House in Manchester, N.H. Friday night.
With the victory, Daemen advances to the NCAA DII East Regional semifinals tomorrow and will face No. 4 Jefferson at 7:30 p.m. Daemen now stands at 21-4 overall (16-1 ECC regular season) while SNHU concludes its season at 21-7 overall (15-4 NE-10 regular season.) Since early December, the Wildcats have won 19 of their last 20 games and, including tonight's win against the Penmen, are 20-3 against East Region opponents this season.
In what was the first NCAA Tournament game of her career, Filbert shot a game-high 11-of-24 from the field to pace the Wildcats offensively. Once again, the Wildcats received quality contributions from both senior forwards Katie Titus (Penfield, N.Y.) and Mickayla Ivy (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Titus finished with 15 points and a team-high 12 rebounds while Ivy added 10 points and six rebounds.
The Penmen scored first off a Jenna Roche free-throw just over a minute into the ball game. Then, the Daemen offense started scoring as sophomore guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) made two baskets and Ivy scored on the drive to take a 6-1 lead with 5:55 left. SNHU responded with a pair of jumpers, however, to bring the score within one, 6-5. Outside of a three-pointer from Karlee Ziliak at the 2:11 mark to bring the score within a basket (10-8), it was the Wildcats – and specifically, Filbert – that found success offensively all inside the paint. Filbert converted Daemen's final four shots of the first quarter – the last made on a turnaround jumper – and gave the Wildcats a 14-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Daemen's lead was trimmed to four points (14-10) following Roche's jumper to start the second quarter. The Wildcats, however, were able to pull away as a three-pointer, and later a put-back shot in the paint from Titus helped build a 19-12 lead with 3:30 remaining in the first half. The Penmen then roared to life and, thanks to a trio of three-point field goals over the last three minutes, outscored the Wildcats 13-4 to go into the locker room with a 25-23 lead at the half. The three-point shooting came for the Penmen in the last minute of the break as a make from junior Ariana Koivisto with 0:47 left brought SNHU within one (23-22) before Ziliak drilled a shot in the right corner with 0:06 remaining.
The scoring went back and forth in the second half as five of the game's nine lead changes occurred in the third quarter alone. After a pair of baskets from Ivy gave Daemen a 29-28 lead, the two teams exchanged three-point field goals from Ziliak and then Paige in less than a minute span. Ivy's jumper gave Daemen a three-pointer lead but Ziliak drew the contact inside and completed the old-fashioned three-point play to tied the score at 34-34 with 4:38 left in the third quarter. After the score was later tied again at 36-36 with 4:08 left, Daemen regained the lead and momentum as sophomore Natalie Angeletti (Panama, N.Y.) scored her only two buckets of the night around the rim to help give Daemen a seven-point lead, 46-39, with 40 seconds left. The Penmen would not go down without a fight as Roche's three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining kept the regional hosts within striking distance, 46-42.
Ivy kept Daemen going with her final score of the evening within the first seconds of the fourth quarter (48-42) before SNHU sophomore forward Jessica Knight responded with a basket-and-the-foul to cut the lead down to three (48-45) with just over eight minutes remaining. Daemen responded with a drive to the basket from Filbert and a jumper from Titus to give the Wildcats a 52-45, prompting a Penmen timeout with 7 minutes to play. The timeout seemed to work as SNHU responded with a 7-2 run over the next two minutes – capped off from another three-point play from Knight – to cut Daemen's lead down to 54-52 with 4:50 left.
That's when sophomore Kaytlyn Matz (Johnsburg, Ill.) entered the scoring picture for Daemen, who had a 56-52 lead with just over three minutes left. On three consecutive possessions, Matz scored all seven of her points tonight as she knocked down a three-pointer and scored twice on cuts to the basket – all to give Daemen a 63-54 lead with under a minute remaining. The Penmen tried to catch up, however, the Wildcats had by then gained enough ground and continued making free throws. Filbert capped off Daemen's scoring with two free throws with 0:24 left in the contest (70-59.)
IMPACT PLAYERS
- Along with recording 27 points, Filbert added three rebounds, two assists and two rebounds in 38 minutes played. With the 27-point outing, Filbert now holds the program's individual record for most points scored in an NCAA Tournament game, surpassing teammate Katie Titus' 22-point performance versus Roberts Wesleyan in the NCAA East Regional finals on March 23, 2021. Tonight was the 14th time this season and the 71st time in her Daemen career that Filbert has finished a contest in double-figure scoring.
- The 2021-22 ECC Player of the Year, Titus connected on 5-of-16 from the floor and made her lone three-pointer of the evening at the 7:07 mark of the second quarter. Titus also finished with a team-high 12 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season and team-high 23rd game in double-figure scoring. The veteran also finished with team-highs in assists (4) and blocks (3.) Like Filbert, this was the 71st time in her Daemen career that Filbert has finished a contest in double-figure scoring.
- Ivy scored eight of her 10 points in the second half alone along with six rebounds, two assists, and one block. The All-ECC Third Team member recorded her 14th contest in double-figure scoring this season, including in 13 of Daemen's last 21 contests.
- Paige added seven points, four rebounds, and two assists apiece in the victory. Her classmate, Matz, recorded eight rebounds and two steals along with her late seven-point outing.
- Angeletti's four points in the third quarter were all that came off Daemen's bench in the win.
- Six different players scored for SNHU in their loss tonight. Graduate student guard Karlee Ziliak scored a team-high 19 points, 13 in the second half alone, and finished a game-high 4-of-10 from beyond the arc. Forward Jessica Knight recorded a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) to finish her sophomore campaign. Junior forward Ariana Koivisto and senior guard Jenna Roche recorded nine points and eight points, respectively.
GAME NOTES
- The Wildcats entered the game ranked ninth in the third and final NCAA Division II East Region rankings.
- Daemen has reached the 20-win plateau for the second time in the past three seasons. The Wildcats went 23-5, claimed its first-ever ECC Tournament title, and made their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2019-20.
- Tonight was the inaugural meeting between Daemen and Southern New Hampshire. This was also the Penmen's first NCAA Tournament contest in program history since the 1989-90 season.
- The Wildcats shot 29-of-64 (45.3%) from the floor. Daemen also finished 3-of-17 (17.6%) from beyond the arc against the Penmen, knocking down two of them in the second half alone.
- Daemen finished with 12 assists on 29 field goals. It was only the eighth time this season that the Wildcats did not record 15+ assists in a single contest and the first time since a 61-53 loss vs. St. Thomas Aquinas on Feb. 18, where they also posted 12 assists (seven games.)
- Daemen also finished 9-of-12 (75%) from the free-throw line against the Penmen.
- Southern New Hampshire shot 22-of-73 (30.1%) from the floor. The Penmen also finished 7-of-25 (28.0%) from three-point land, knocking down four of them in the first half. The Penmen also finished 8-of-10 (80%) at the free-throw line.
- Daemen recorded 49 rebounds, including nine on the offensive glass. Daemen has now out-rebounded their opponent in 22 of 25 games this season.
- Daemen out-edged SNHU in the categories of points off turnovers (8-7) and points in the paint (34-22.) However, the Penmen won the battle in second-chance opportunities (9-8), fast-break scoring (6-2), and points off the bench (21-4.)
- Daemen has held 57 of its last 69 opponents to 65 points or less and are 52-5 in those games.
- Titus has now totaled 1,451 points, 770 rebounds, 157 blocks, and 189 three-pointers in 98 career games. As a result, Titus passed both Sarah Bogardus '09 and Alison LaPoint '07 and is now tied with Sarah Saba '18 for seventh all-time in career rebounding. Titus also tied Saba for sixth all-time in career blocks. Titus also ranks eighth in career scoring and third in career three-pointers made among Daemen's all-time leaders. She is the first player in program history to reach 1,400 points, 750 rebounds, 150 blocks, and 150 three-pointers.
- With her 27-point performance, Filbert now stands 11 points from passing Bridgette Burke '11 for ninth all-time in career scoring. She increased her career totals to 1,393 points, 591 rebounds, 350 assists, and 140 steals in 118 career games. Heading into tomorrow night, Filbert ranks 10th in career scoring and ninth in career assists. She is just the fourth player in program history with at least 1,300 points, 550 rebounds, and 300 assists.
- Daemen is now 72-14 in its last 86 games, a span that dates back to mid-January of 2019.
NEXT JUMP BALL
With tonight's victory, Daemen will now face No. 4 Jefferson in the NCAA East Regional semifinals at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 12 at Stan Spirou Field House. The Rams defeated No. 5 Bentley in Friday's nightcap, 50-47. Daemen-Jefferson will be preceded by the first semifinal between No. 3 USciences and No. 7 Pace at 5 p.m. The winners of Saturday's semifinals will play for the NCAA East Regional championship on Monday, March 14 at 7 p.m.
Provided by the Daemen Sports Information Department.
