Geoff Schneider

Box Score

Daemen DAEW 15-3, 13-0

Dist. Columbia UDCW 11-13, 7-8

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Daemen DAEW	26	15	19	22	82
Dist. Columbia UDCW	18	11	18	25	72

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 2/13/2022 4:05:00 PM | CONTACT: Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications | (716) 839-8385 | mmiranto@daemen.edu

Titus' Super Sunday Shooting Leads Wildcats To Win At UDC

Daemen clinches top-two finish in ECC play

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senior forward Katie Titus (Penfield, N.Y.) matched her season-high with five three-pointers and scored 34 points to lead Daemen to an 82-72 win over the District of Columbia Firebirds in East Coast Conference women's basketball action at the UDC Sports Complex today.

Daemen extended its winning streak to a baker's dozen and improved to 15-3 overall and 13-0 in East Coast Conference play. The Wildcats have won 22 straight regular season conference games dating back to the start of last season. Today's victory clinches a top-two finish in the ECC standings and a bye into the semifinal round of next month's conference tournament.

UDC, which was playing its second game in as many days, dropped to 11-13 overall and 7-8 in ECC play. The Firebirds were coming off a two-point loss (64-62) yesterday at Roberts Wesleyan.

Titus' hot start helped the Wildcats establish a double-figure lead less than eight minutes into the game. Her layup at the 3:26 mark of the opening quarter put Daemen ahead 21-10. After UDC closed to within 32-24, the Wildcats responded with a three-pointer by Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.) and a steal and layup by Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) to extend to a 13-point advantage (37-24). An inside hoop from reserve forward Marina Maerkl (Binghamton, N.Y.) with 19 ticks remaining in the period put the Wildcats ahead 41-29 heading into halftime.

The Wildcats led by as many as 15 points in third quarter, but UDC again closed to within eight, trailing 55-47 following a pair of Latavia Jackson free throws. Again Daemen responded with back-to-back buckets as Titus sank her fifth three-pointer of the game and Autumn Buchsenschutz (Port Allegany, Pa.) added a two-point jumper from the right wing. The second of the two sent Daemen into the fourth quarter with a 60-47 lead.

Alina Estrella (Brooklyn, N.Y.) came off Daemen bench to sink a pair of fourth quarter three-pointers, the second of which gave Daemen its biggest lead of the game at 70-54. Once again, the Firebirds clawed back to within eight points, but that's as close as they would get. Estrella's old fashioned three-point play with 2:55 to go pushed the Daemen lead back to double digits (73-62) and the Wildcats went on to shoot 7-of-10 from the free throw line in the final two minutes to seal the victory.

IMPACT PLAYERS

Titus made her first six field goal attempts, including four from three-point range, and scored 18 of Daemen's first 21 points. She finished shooting 12-for-19 from the field, 5-for-10 from three-point range and 5-for-6 from the charity stripe while recording her third 30-point game of both the season and her career. Titus added a game-high nine rebounds as well as three assists.
Filbert saw 38 minutes of action and totaled 15 points, eight rebounds and a game-high six assists. It marked her eighth game this season with at least five assists.
Paige chipped in with nine points, four rebounds and three assists while Estrella contributed nine points - all in the fourth quarter - to finish one shy of her career-best effort.
Jackson netted 18 points and Ronnasia Blatch-Huggins added 16 points to pace the Firebirds. Both outputs came off the UDC bench.
Destiny Ryles added 13 points, six assists and three steals to the UDC cause.

GAME NOTES

Daemen entered the game ranked eighth in the Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region poll.
Today's game was originally scheduled for December 19 but was postponed at that time due to established health and safety protocols related to COVID-19.
Today's win gives Daemen a sweep of the season series with UDC. Daemen defeated the Firebirds 61-51 at Lumsden Gymnasium on January 30. The Wildcats own a 9-7 in the all-time series and have won nine straight meetings.
Daemen's 13-game winning streak ranks as the longest winning streak among all NCAA Division II East region teams.
Daemen finished 29-for-64 form the field (45.3%) and 10-for-30 from three-point range (33.3%). It marks the third straight game (and the eighth time this season) that Daemen has made 10 or more three-pointers.
UDC shot 27-for-66 from the field (40.9%) but just 1-for-8 from behind the three-point line (12.5%).
The Wildcats dished 21 assists today marking the sixth time this season they've totaled 20 or more. Daemen has record 10+ assists in 15 straight games.
Both Titus and Filbert recorded the 1,300th points of their careers today, becoming just the 13th and 14th players in program history to do so.
Filbert increased her career totals to 1,306 points, 549 rebounds, 327 assists and 131 steals in 111 career games. She is just the sixth player in program history with at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists. Filbert ranks 14th in career scoring and is just seven assists shy of cracking the program's top 10 all-time.
Titus has scored in double figures in 14 straight and 17 of 18 games this season. She became the 27th member of Daemen's 1,000-Point Club during a win over Angelo State University earlier this year and has now totaled 1,316 points, 724 rebounds and 146 blocks in 91 career games. She ranks 13th in career points and is just 16 rebounds shy of breaking into the program's to 10 all-time. Titus is the fourth player in program history to reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks and she leads the ECC in scoring this season by averaging 19.9 points per contest.
Daemen is now 66-13 in its last 79 games, a span that dates back to mid January of 2019.
Daemen is now 6-3 all-time in games played on Super Bowl Sunday. The Wildcats have played on Super Bowl Sunday three times in the past five seasons - all victories.

NEXT JUMP BALL
The Wildcats return to action this Friday, February 18 when they host St. Thomas Aquinas for a 5:30 p.m. tip at Lumsden Gymnasium.

Daemen College features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 18 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.