Wildcats Open Conference Play With 81-58 Win Over Roberts Wesleyan

Paige and McDuffie Combine For 47 Points

AMHERST, N.Y. – Senior Alahna Paige (Rochester, N.Y.) netted 24 points and classmate Gabby McDuffie(Buffalo, N.Y.) scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Daemen University women’s basketball team to an 81-58 victory over Roberts Wesleyan University today at Lumsden Gymnasium on the Daemen campus.

Daemen snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 4-3. It marked the East Coast Conference opener for the host Wildcats. Roberts suffered its third-straight loss and dropped to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the ECC.

IMPACT PLAYERS

• Paige, who entered the game averaging a team-high 16.8 points, drilled five three-pointers and also grabbed five rebounds.
• McDuffie went 6-of-10 from the field and was 10-of-13 from the charity stripe. She also added seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.
• Sophomore Cecilia Lapertosa (Whitesboro, N.Y.) equaled her career-high for rebounds (13) and also added five points, three assists and three blocks.
• Junior Julia Hauer (Binghamton, N.Y.) added six points, five rebounds and three assists.
• Graduate student Georgia Haverlock scored 15 points for RWU.

GAME NOTES

• Daemen has now prevailed in seven-straight and 14 of the last 15 meetings between the two long-time rivals.
• Daemen has won 17-straight home games dating back to the 2021-22 season.
• The Redhawks outscored the Wildcats 8-4 early in the game, but Daemen scored the next nine points and the hosts later took an 18-11 lead after senior Kaytlyn Matz (Johnsburg, Ill.) drilled a three-pointer with 1:33 left in the first quarter. Daemen took a 22-13 lead into the second quarter.
• The teams traded three-pointers at the start of the second quarter and the Daemen lead was 25-16 when the Redhawks went on a 12-2 run. A jumper by senior Emily Palmer with 4:45 left before halftime capped the run and game RWU a 28-27 lead.
• Daemen scored the next four points and would take a 39-31 lead into halftime after Paige drilled a three-pointer with 29 seconds left before the break.
• Matz hit a three-pointer two minutes into the third quarter that gave Daemen a 46-35 lead, but RWU scored the next five points and cut the lead back to six points, 46-40, after sophomore Grace Galgano hit a three-pointer from the top of the key.
• Daemen answered with an 11-2 run was capped with a four-point play after Paige hit a three-pointer from the corner, was fouled and made the free throw to make it 57-42 with just over three minutes left in the third quarter. Daemen would take a 62-46 lead into the fourth quarter.
• Both teams struggled to score for the first four minutes of the final quarter and the Daemen lead was 64-51 when the Wildcats got a three-pointer by Paige and a layup by McDuffie to take a 69-51 lead. Roberts came no closer than 15 points the rest of the game.
• Daemen shot 54-percent (6-for-11) in the final quarter and finished 25-for-63 (40%) from the field overall. The Wildcats connected on 10-of-28 three-pointers and made 21-of-25 from the charity stripe.
• RWU finished 19-of-53 (36%) from the field overall and made just 5-of-20 from downtown. The Redhawks canned 15-of-19 from the charity stripe.
   

NEXT JUMP BALL
Daemen is idle until next weekend when the Wildcats travel to Molloy (Dec. 8) and Queens (Dec. 10) for ECC games.