AMHERST, N.Y. -  Millersville was faced with a tall task Saturday afternoon: beat the Daemen Wildcats on their home court. The Wildcats hadn't lost at Lumsden Gymnasium in almost two years.  The Marauders fell just short in that quest, falling 56-52 in a game that was close throughout. Neither team held a lead of double digits at any point during the contest. 
 
The Marauders were reminded of their opponents home-court dominance early. Daemen landed the first blow of the match, leaping out to a seven point advantage with a three and a four-point play. Sophie Elstone responded and put the visitors on the board with a smooth mid-range jumper. The Marauders caused havoc on defense despite the slow offensive start, forcing turnovers on five of the next seven Wildcat possessions. 
 
The visitors were down three at the end of the first period, mostly due to turnovers on the other end. Millersville coughed up eleven in the first thirteen minutes and 10 of Daemen's first 16 points came off of a giveaway. 
 
Brenna Ortwein brought the Marauders to within one at 17-18 with a sneaky layup through a Wildcat foul, resulting in an old-fashioned three point play. With 6.5 seconds remaining in the half, a Sophie Elstone putback off of a missed layup gave the 'Ville their first lead.  
 
The Wildcats came out hot to start the second half, making three of their first four three-pointers to take their biggest edge of the contest (nine) with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. The visitors quickly made inroads into that lead, however. Millersville forced four Daemen turnovers in the next four minutes and cashed in with layups from La'Shyra Williams, Makiah Shaw, and Juliana Vinlaun. 
 
The first bucket of the final period came four minutes in off the fingers of Williams. Ortwein passed the ball in to a rolling Morgan Mahoney, who dropped it off to Williams on the other block, who laid it in through the contact for the three-point opportunity. 
 
Williams played nine of the final 10 minutes and was Millersville's go-to scorer down the stretch. The junior six-footer netted nine of her 18 points in the fourth quarter and was responsible for half of the team's 18 points in the period. 

The Marauders entered the final minute of regulation down 49-48 with posession. Marin Miller drew a foul near halfcourt and knocked down both free throws to take the lead. The Wildcats returned the favor on the other end to snag a 51-50 lead. 
 
It was Williams yet again in the big moment, canning the pair after another Daemen foul. Up one, the Marauders needed a stop, but a Wildcat three-pointer gave the hosts a two-point advantage on the next posession. The Marauders almost sent the game to overtime with a mid-range jumper but it bounced out.
 
Millersville looks to get back in the winning column on Nov. 26 at 1 p.m. when it travels to Philadelphia to face Holy Family. 

KIRA MOWEN'S THOUGHTS

• On the game: "Daemen played well and executed their game plan for a full 40 minutes. We played hard but couldn't string together multiple stops or scores. Time fixes a lot of things and we just need more time together right now as a program."
• On the team's hustle: "Our offensive rebounding and steals are moving more in a direction that we like as a staff. Those intangibles are what will make us more successful as we hit March."

• This is the first meeting ever between these two programs, so Millersville's all-time record against the Wildcats falls to 0-1. 
• Since the 2018-19 season, Daemen owns a 51-6 overall record on their home court, including an undefeated 2022-23 season.  They haven't lost at home since Feb. 18, 2022 when they fell to St. Thomas Aquinas, a span of over 600 days.

• Brenna Ortwein and Sophie Elstone stood out on the defensive end. They caused havoc in the passing lanes and on the glass on both ends of the floor. Ortwein tied for the team lead with eight rebounds and added three steals as well. Elstone paced the Marauders in steals with four and both players snagged two offensive rebounds. 
• La'Shyra Williams was effective in all areas of the game, leading the team in points (18) rebounds (eight), offensive rebounds (five) and blocks (two). She also recorded two steals in her 28 minutes. 
• The Marauders committed 25 turnovers while the Wildcats had 23.