Women’s Notebook – Daemen heads to Ohio
Monday night in Amherst, New York, host Daemen beat Roberts Wesleyan for the fourth time in five tries this season to nail down trip to the Elite Eight in Columbus, Ohio. The Wildcats used a familiar template to repel the Redhawks in the regional final, 58-40, mainly using defense, rebounding and veteran scoring. As a result, they will be the fourth team in NYCAC/ECC history to represent the region at the national quarterfinal stage.
Sluggish start
Daemen led by a 9-4 count after one period, overcoming 4-16 field goal shooting by limiting the Redhawks to a 2-10 showing from the floor and forcing eight RWC turnovers. Paige McCormick (19 points; 6-12 FG, 3-7 3FG) scored with 8:27 to go in the frame, giving the 5th seeded Redhawks a 4-2 lead, but they were blanked the rest of the quarter. Although they tied the game at 9-9 early in the second stanza, the Wildcats had control and never relinquished it.
Caroline White joins the 1K party
The Wildcat senior entered the game with 999 career points and quickly hit the 1,000-point plateau. White ended the game with 13 points and a robust 16 rebounds, illustrating her immense value to the team.
Katie Titus earns MOP honors
The 6-foot Daemen junior was a deserving Most Outstanding Player in the regional, wrapping it up with a 22-point, 7-rebound showing in the final. Titus shot 5-8 from three-point land, including four triples in the first half as the Wildcats built a 24-16 halftime edge.
Fatigue shows for the Redhawks
It’s a tough ask to play three games in four days and be at your best, and Roberts Wesleyan (whose nine-game win streak was snapped) never had the jump in this game that they showed in the first two regional contests. RWC shot just 25% and were out-rebounded, 46-28, similar stats to a number of their earlier losses this year o Daemen. Paige McCormick was the only Redhawk to score more than five points, leaving any comeback hopes on fumes once they fell behind.
Third quarter provides distance for Daemen
The 2nd seeded Wildcats out-scored Roberts Wesleyan in the third period by a 17-7 count, stretching their lead to 41-23 and all but icing the theoretical champagne. Titus capped the big quarter with a trey at the :13 mark and the result was never in danger thereafter.
All-Tourney team
Titus (the MOP), was joined on the All-Tourney unit by her teammate White and a pair of Redhawks, Paige McCormick and Dimitra Gkizani. Rounding out the team was Georgian Court’s Anyssa Fields.
ECC historical notes
Daemen joins Queens (’17) and Dowling (’13) as ECC teams representing the region at the Elite Eight. Saint Rose advanced to the Elite Eight in 2000 when the league was known as the NYCAC but the lineage links them all together. Queens and Saint Rose were eliminated at the first stage at their Elite Eight’s while Dowling went all the way to the national title game before losing to Ashland.
2021 Elite Eight
Three #1 seeds (Belmont Abbey, Charleston and Lubbock Christian) and three #2 seeds (Daemen, Drury and Lander) are on their way to Ohio as part of the field; Central Missouri and Azusa Pacific (#4 seeds) are also on their way to the Elite Eight. The eight teams were seeded after regional play and the match-ups look like this on Tuesday:
#1 Lubbock Christian vs. #8 Daemen
#2 Lander vs. #7 Azusa Pacific
#3 Drury vs. #6 Charleston
#4 Belmont Abbey vs. #5 Central Missouri
Daemen’s major task in Ohio
In actuality, Daemen’s opponent, Lubbock Christian, is the defending champion, as they won the 2019 title. In fact, LCU has won two of the last four crowns (they won in ’16, as well). LCU is the #1 ranked team in the last WBCA poll, sits 20-0 and has won 32 straight games. Whew. Indeed, the Lady Chaparrals are a juggernaut and will be a severe test for the Wildcats. Defensively, Lubbock Christian is ultra-stingy, allowing only 49 points per game and limiting their foes to 33% field goal shooting. Add in the facts that they force more than seven turnovers per game more than they commit and score 75.4 points a night, and you can see the size of the mountain in front of Daemen.
NCAA/Elite Eight notes
Other ranked teams are Drury (#2), Lander (#5), Belmont Abbey (#13), Daemen (#15) and Central Missouri (#20)… Azusa Pacific is the only unranked team in the Elite Eight and they benefitted in a major way from the bizarre nature of this tournament. The top seed/host in the West region, Colorado Mines (ranked #22), had to opt out due COVID protocols, which meant that APU only had to beat 5th seed Hawaii Pacific to reach the regional final. They then had two days off before facing 3rd seed Westminster, who had to play thrice in four days. Azusa Pacific used all those advantages to win, 53-48, and reach the Elite Eight… BTW, there was another team, Arkansas Tech, which also had to opt out before playing. Their departure allowed 5th seed Cameron to move on without playing but their stay was short, as Lubbock Christian hammered them, 96-66, in the second round… Two teams in the last WBCA top 25 poll did not even get bids to the 48-team NCAA tournament, Gannon (#17) and Benedict (#24). Under-par schedules are the likely reason. Gannon went 13-1 (they split with Daemen) while Benedict went 12-3 but didn’t the WBCA take strength of schedule into account when compiling their rankings? As always, more questions than answers in this asterisk season.
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