BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – Sophomore Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) scored a career-high 26 points and junior Natalie Galus (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) registered her first double-double of the season to lead Daemen College to a 76-68 victory over Long Island University - Post here tonight in women's basketball action. Daemen snapped a nine-game losing streak and improved to 3-10 overall and 1-6 in the East Coast Conference. The host Pioneers fell to 2-14 overall and 2-6 in the ECC.
It marked Daemen's first-ever victory over the Pioneers since the Wildcats joined the ECC in 2012.
Four players scored in double figures for Daemen. Saba, who connected on 10-of-16 shots and also registered four assists and two steals, has now averaged 21.3 points over the past four games and is averaging a team-high 15.5 points on the year. Galus finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two blocks en route to her eighth career double-double. Senior Raeann Stilwell (Cheektowaga, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) drilled a season-high four three-pointers and totaled 13 points and five assists, while classmate Somara Colon (Bronx, N.Y./Mott Haven Village Prep) connected on 6-of-10 shots and equaled her career-high for points (12).
Stilwell took eight three-point shots tonight and in the process established a new school record for most three-pointers attempted for a career. She has now recorded 722 three-point field goal attempts over her four-year career, eclipsing the previous record of 721 set by Jessica Ruddell from 2001 to 2005. Stilwell ranks second to Ruddell in career three-pointers made with 231, and she now needs just 12 triples to replace Ruddell atop the program's career three-point field goals made list.
Senior forward Nyasia Davis (Rahway, N.J.) paced the Pioneers with 20 points and seven rebounds.
Daemen, which never trailed during the game, established season-highs for overall field-goal percentage (29-63/.460) and three-point field goal percentage (10-27/.370) in the game. The Pioneers shot just 33-percent (20-60) for the game and made just 2-of-13 three-point attempts. Daemen secured the win despite being outscored 26-8 from the free throw line. The host Pioneers took 39 trips to the charity stripe and made 26, while Daemen was just 8-for-10 from the free throw line. The Pioneers finished with a slim 40-38 edge in total rebounds.
LIU Post went without a field goal for the first five minutes of the game and Daemen opened up a 12-3 lead after Galus drained a three-pointer with 4:46 left in the first quarter. Galus' third triple of the first quarter gave the Wildcats an 18-7 lead with 3:34 left in the frame, but LIU Post scored the final six points of the quarter and Daemen took an 18-13 lead into the second period.
The teams traded baskets for the first six minutes of the second quarter and the Wildcats held a 28-23 lead when a bucket by Colon sparked the visitors on a 9-0 run. A three-pointer by Stilwell with just over a minute left in the half capped the run and gave the Wildcats a 37-23 lead. Daemen took a 39-25 lead into halftime.
Daemen maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the third quarter before a late spurt by the Pioneers cut it to single digits. A conventional three-point play by Saba with 2:59 left in the quarter gave the Wildcats a 50-36 lead, but LIU-Post closed out the quarter with a 7-2 run and the hosts cut the lead to nine points, 52-43, after sophomore guard Naya Williams (New Rochelle, N.Y.) made one of two free throws with six seconds left in the frame.
LIU Post remained within striking distance for the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, before the Wildcats got clutch back-to-back three-pointers by Stilwell and Saba that gave the visitors a 13-point lead (67-54) with 3:33 to play. The lead was 15 points, 71-56, after Stilwell made one-of-two free throws with 1:47, but LIU Post made things interesting with a 12-2 run. Two free throws by senior Quanisha Ratley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with 32 seconds left capped the run, but Stilwell's fourth three-pointer of the game at the other end secured the win for the Wildcats.
Daemen returns to league play Sunday (Jan. 17) when it plays at regionally-ranked New York Institute of Technology at 1 p.m.
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