AMHERST, N.Y. -- The Daemen University women's basketball team is ranked fourth in the East Region in the ninth Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) Women's Basketball Regional Poll, as released on Monday. The Wildcats have been ranked in 43 straight regional polls, dating back to early January 2019. The East Region consists of 10 teams from the East Coast Conference, Northeast-10 Conference and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. 

Daemen tallied their second-largest victory of the season against longtime in-state rival Roberts Wesleyan on Wednesday night, tallying a 71-51 win over the Redhawks in a game in which the Wildcats never trailed. Three Wildcats dropped double-digit points against the Redhawks, with graduate student guard Paige Emborsky (Newfane, N.Y.) leading the Wildcats in scoring with 11 points on the day. Sophomore forward Julia Hauer (Binghamton, N.Y.) and junior guard Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) both scored 10 points in the victory.

The Wildcats have a 10-2 overall record on the season, and are 5-1 in ECC play on the year. Daemen has outscored their opponents by an average of 11 points through 12 games on the year, and are shooting 40-percent from the field and 36-percent from beyond the arc, compared to 35-percent from the field and 25-percent from their opponents. 

After transferring into Daemen this season, Emborsky has put together a very successful first year as a Wildcat. The graduate student guard has put together nine double-digit point games on the year and leads the team in scoring, averaging 12.4 points per game, and leads the team and the ECC in shooting in both field goal percentage (53.9) and three point percentage (61.1). Her 61.1 three-point shooting percentage also leads all of Division II. Averaging 29.6 minutes per game, Emborsky also snags an average of 3.9 rebounds per game.

Junior forward Natalie Angeletti (Panama, N.Y.) leads the Wildcats in rebounding through 12 games this the season, totaling 72 on the year to average 6.0 boards per game. She ranks third on the team in scoring, averaging 7.3 ppg while shooting 51-percent from the field (36-of-70), and she is the only Wildcats on the year to record a double-double when she tallied 10 points and 11 rebounds against St. Michael's. 

The Wildcats head to the nation's capital this weekend to take on the District of Columbia Firebirds on Saturday, Jan. 21 in a 1 PM tilt.

Jefferson moves back into first place in the region and received four of the six first place votes with 58 points, taking the lead back from Jefferson (54) who picked up two first place votes but fell to Bentley last week. Bentley (48) jumped from fifth to third over Daemen (42), while Southern New Hampshire (38) dropped to round out the top five. Le Moyne (28), Holy Family (24), Southern Connecticut State (17), St. Thomas Aquinas (15) and Chestnut Hill (5) are the final five teams in the poll. 

The D2SIDA East Region media poll is conducted by sports information professionals representing the ECC, Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference and Northeast-10 Conference.
 

D2SIDA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL EAST REGION MEDIA POLL - WEEK 9
	W-L	PTS.	LAST WEEK
1. Jefferson (4)	15-2	58	2
2. Assumption (2)	14-2	54	1
3. Bentley	12-4	48	5
4. DAEMEN	10-2	42	4
5. Southern New Hampshire	12-3	38	3
6. Le Moyne	11-5	28	8
7. Holy Family	13-5	24	8
8. Southern Connecticut St.	10-5	17	7
9. St. Thomas Aquinas	11-5	15	6
10. Chestnut Hill	10-6	5	NR

RV: Mercy
( ) denotes first-place votes

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Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 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.

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