AMHERST, N.Y. – Junior Raeann Stilwell (Cheektowaga, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) hit the game-tying three-pointer at the end of regulation and scored the final six points in overtime to lift Daemen College to a 79-76 victory over Mercy College here today in East Coast Conference women's basketball action.
 
Daemen has now won three of its last four games and improved to 11-12 overall and 8-9 in the ECC. Mercy dropped to 8-17 overall and 2-16 in the league.
 
Stilwell went 3-for-9 from downtown and finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. It marked the second double-double of the year for Stilwell, who totaled 16 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in a season-opening loss to Holy Family University. Freshman Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) continued her solid play and registered her third-straight double-double with 18 points, a career-high 14 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals. Senior Shy Britton (Rochester, N.Y./Niagara University) turned in a solid effort in her final home game, as she scored 13 of her 18 points after halftime and also recorded seven rebounds, four assists, six blocks and three steals. Sophomore Natalie Galus (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) added 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Galus also recorded a season-high six blocks and in the process became the ninth player in program history to register 100 career rejections.
 
Senior Tanayzha Augustine (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) led Mercy with 29 points and 19 rebounds, while junior Erin Copeland (Kansas City, Kan.) added 14 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
 
Mercy led by six (57-51) with just over three minutes to play in the second half when Saba grabbed an offensive rebound and fed Galus who swished a three-pointer from the top of the key. The teams traded points and Mercy held a 61-58 lead when Britton scored to make it a one-point game with 1:13 left. Galus recorded a huge block at the other end with 48 seconds left, but Daemen was unable to take advantage and Mercy took a 63-60 lead following a jumper by senior Brandone Roberts (Jessup, Md.) with 19 seconds left. Daemen did not call a timeout and Britton found an open Stilwell who drained the tying triple with :09 seconds left. Mercy was unable to get a game-winning shot off and the teams headed to overtime.
 
Neither team led by more than three points over the first four minutes of OT and the game was tied at 74-74 when Stilwell once again took a feed from Britton and swished a three-pointer with :36 seconds left. A three-pointer by Mercy was off the mark at the other end Saba came up with the rebound. Stilwell was fouled with :23 seconds left and drained two free throws to give Daemen a 79-74 lead. Copeland scored with :17 seconds left and Daemen left the door open after Stilwell was off the mark with two free throws with :15 seconds left. Mercy got two game-tying three-point attempts off in the final seconds, but both of the shots were off the mark.
 
Mercy held a 19-11 lead midway through the first half when the Wildcats got two free throws from junior Samantha Wozniak (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) and back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore Rachel Pawlak (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Niagara-Wheatfield) and Galus to knot the game at 19-19. Mercy then outscored the Wildcats 14-3 over the next five minutes and the Mavericks took their largest lead of the half, 33-21, after Augustine canned two free throws with 2:50 left before intermission. Daemen scored the final seven points of the half and Mercy took a 33-28 lead into the break.
 
Daemen shot 35-percent (28-79) from the field overall and canned 8-of-29 three-point attempts. Mercy shot just 30-percent (27-89) overall and was just 5-of-20 from downtown. Mercy posted a 61-57 edge in total rebounds. The Mavericks collected 19 offensive rebounds which led to a 13-8 advantage in second-chance points. The Wildcats finished with a season-high 15 blocks for the second-straight game--five shy of the school record (20) set during the 2008-09 season.
 
Daemen returns to action Tuesday (Feb. 24) when it travels to Roberts Wesleyan College for an ECC game at 6 p.m.
 
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