GAMEDAY: WOMEN'S BASKETBALL OPENS WEEKEND ROAD TRIP AT DAEMEN

2/3/2023 11:30:00 AM

Amherst, NY - The College of Staten Island Women's Basketball Team begins a weekend road trip tonight as they face the Daemen University Wildcats in the first of two East Coast Conference games during the next three days. The Dolphins enter today's action 7-13 on the season and are 3-7 in conference play. The Wildcats enter tonight's matchup 12-4 on the year and are 7-3 against the ECC. The Wildcats have won all three meetings between the two sides since the start of the 2021-2022 season by at least seventeen points and the Dolphins will be looking for their first win in program history against Daemen this evening.

The Dolphins last played on Saturday afternoon against St. Thomas Aquinas College at The Tank and could not overcome a prolonged offensive drought in the middle quarters of a 70-46 loss. CSI led in that game for much of the first half, but late in the second quarter the Spartans surged ahead and never looked back. The Wildcats will play their seventh straight conference game tonight with their last outing coming on Sunday against Queens. Daemen picked up the 22-point win in that game against the Knights, their second consecutive victory.

Jenalyse Alarcon remains the only Dolphin averaging double-digit scoring as the team has struggled at the offensive end of the floor each of the last two games. Alarcon is also the team's leading rebounder and most efficient shooter with just shy of 9 boards per game and a 52% mark form the field. Ashley Lambert finished Saturday's game against the Spartans with a breakout performance in the fourth quarter to bring her scoring average up to 9.4 points per game. She also appeared to find her stroke from the outside and is now shooting 31% from distance on the season.

Paige Emborsky is the only player averaging over ten points per game for Daemen, but she was one of three Wildcats who scored in double-figures against the Dolphins earlier this season. She has also maintained an incredible shooting percentage from beyond the arc and is currently hitting just below 59% of her threes. As a team, Daemen is shooting 40% on the season and has held opponents to sub-35% shooting from the floor. Last time these two teams met, the Wildcats shot over 47% while holding the Dolphins to just over 28% from the field.

The Dolphins remain very much alive in the hunt for an East Coast Conference playoff spot despite Saturday's loss to the Spartans. Because D'Youville is in their third year as an NCAA provisional program, they are not eligible for the postseason. Because of this, the Dolphins currently sit in the sixth and final playoff spot despite currently being seventh in the standings.

Gametime - 5:30 PM
Location - Amherst, NY
All-Time Series - Daemen leads, 3-0
Last Meeting - 1/6/23: Daemen won, 64-45

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