St. Thomas Aquinas (7-7, 3-6 ECC)  44-34—78
Daemen (5-12, 2-9 ECC)  50-38—88
 
AMHERST, N.Y. – Sophomore Raeann Stilwell (Cheektowaga, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) drained four three-pointers and totaled 22 points and seven assists and freshman Natalie Galus (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) scored a season-high 20 points to lead Daemen College to an 88-78 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas College here tonight in East Coast Conference women's basketball action. Daemen improved to 5-12 overall and 2-9 in the ECC, while STAC dropped to 7-7 overall and 3-6 in the league.
 
Senior Lindsay Stoddard (Limestone, N.Y./Allegany-Limestone) once again stuffed the stat sheet and nearly recorded her second triple of the year, as she finished with 15 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. Freshman Taylor Heinold (Hamburg, N.Y./Immaculata) also scored in double figures for the Wildcats and finished with 10 points and five rebounds.
 
Senior Briana Cook (Patterson, N.J.) paced the Spartans with 18 points, while freshman Kaitlyn McCue (Bergenfield, N.J.) registered a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman Kristen Olsen (Staten Island, N.Y.) added 15 points for the visitors.
 
Daemen held a 50-44 lead at the break, but the Spartans opened the second half with a 12-8 run and cut the lead to two points, 58-56, following a layup by McCue with 12:03 to play. The teams then traded baskets before back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore Samantha Wozniak (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) and Stilwell sparked the Wildcats on a 16-4 run. A three-point play by Stoddard with 4:33 left capped the run and gave the Wildcats a 76-62 lead. Daemen eventually took its largest lead of the game, 84-69, after Heinold canned two free throws with 2:26 left.
 
Daemen connected on its first five shots en route to an 11-4 lead, but the Spartans answered with seven unanswered points and tied the game at 11-11 after Olsen drained a three-pointer with 16:26 left in the half. The teams traded baskets for the next four minutes and Daemen held a 20-18 lead when the hosts went on a 12-6 run that gave the Wildcats a 32-24 lead with just over eight minutes before intermission. A layup by Galus off a nice pass from Stilwell capped the spurt. STAC trimmed the lead to three points when sophomore Colleen Ames (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) drained a three-pointer from the corner two minutes later, but the Wildcats answered with an 8-2 run and took their largest lead of the half, 45-36, following a layup by sophomore Somara Colon (Bronx, N.Y./Mott Haven Village Prep) with 3:42 left before intermission. The Spartans then got three-straight layups to once again pull to within three points, and the Wildcats would eventually take a six-point lead, 50-44, into halftime after Stoddard drained a jumper at the buzzer.
 
Daemen shot 54-percent (20-37) in the first half and shot a season-high 50-percent (33-66) for the game. STAC shot just 36-percent (32-89) overall and made just 5-of-26 from three-point land. The Spartans collected 18 offensive rebounds, which led to a 24-7 advantage in second-chance points. Daemen finished with a 48-46 edge in total rebounds and the Wildcats also posted a 13-4 edge in fast-break points.
 
Daemen is back in action Sunday (Jan. 26) when it hosts Mercy College in an ECC game at 1 p.m. Mercy (2-13, 1-9 ECC) suffered a 79-48 loss at Roberts Wesleyan College tonight.
 
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