AMHERST, N.Y. – Sophomore Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) scored 13 of her game-high 20 points in the second half to lead Daemen College to a 57-53 victory over Long Island University-Post here tonight in East Coast Conference women's basketball action.
Daemen, which has now won five of its last six games, improved to 9-14 overall and 7-10 in the ECC. The win kept the Wildcats just one game out of sixth place in the ECC standings and in contention for a bid to the upcoming ECC Championship tournament. The top six teams in the final regular-season standings advance to the post-season tournament. LIU Post suffered its fourth-straight loss and dropped to 5-21 overall and 5-13 in the ECC.
The win also gave Daemen the season sweep of the Pioneers. Behind a career-high 26 points from Saba the Wildcats posted a 76-68 win on Long Island earlier this year. LIU Post had prevailed in the first four meetings between the two teams prior to this season.
Saba scored seven of Daemen's final nine points in the game. She also totaled 10 points, three assists and three steals and recorded her third double-double of the season. Senior Somara Colon (Bronx, N.Y./Mott Haven Village Prep) also finished with a double-double for the hosts, as she connected on 6-of-14 shots and totaled 13 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Raeann Stilwell (Cheektowaga, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) added six points and three assists, while junior Natalie Galus (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) chipped in six points, eight rebounds and six blocks. The six blocks give Galus 154 blocks for her career and makes her just the fifth player in program history to register 150 or more blocks.
Junior Janaysia James (Perth Amboy, N.J.) led the Pioneers with 15 points and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench, while classmate Melsha Messam (St. Albans, N.Y.) finished with 13 points and 12 boards.
LIU Post took a 10-5 lead 3:12 into the game following a three-pointer by senior Jayln Brown (Riverhead, N.Y.), but Daemen answered with a three-pointer by Galus and a jumper by Saba to knot the score at 10-10. Both teams struggled to score over the final five minutes of the first quarter and Daemen took a 15-13 lead into the second quarter.
Daemen outscored the Pioneers 9-5 over the first five minutes of the second quarter and the hosts took a 24-18 lead following a layup by Saba with 5:10 left before halftime. The Pioneers cut the lead to three points three times over the next three minutes, the last of which came after a bucket by senior Nyasia Davis (Rahway, N.J.) with 1:50 left before the break made the score 28-25 Daemen. The hosts scored four of the final five points of the quarter and took a 32-26 lead into halftime.
LIU Post cut the lead to three points, 32-29, following a three-point play by Messam at the start of the third quarter, but the Wildcats answered once again and took their largest lead of the game, 40-31, following an 8-2 spurt. A layup by Saba with 4:25 left in the quarter capped the run. After LIU Post came up empty on its next possession the Wildcats had a chance to take a double-digit lead, but a three-pointer by Galus was off the mark and Colon was not able to convert after corralling the offensive rebound. LIU Post scored the next nine points of the game and Daemen took a 44-41 lead into the final quarter.
The Pioneers tied the game at 44-44 after James opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer, and the next eight minutes featured four lead changes and three ties. LIU Post trailed 51-48 when senior Khea Gibbs (Norwalk, Conn.) drilled a three-pointer with 2:15 to play to tie the game for the last time at 51-51. Both teams came up empty on their next possession and Daemen regained the lead following a fast break layup by Saba with 1:19 left. The score remained 53-51 until Stilwell swished two free throws with 29 seconds to play. A putback by Messam with 13 seconds left cut the lead in half, but Saba canned two free throws two seconds later to make it a four point lead once again. LIU Post was off the mark with two shots in the final 10 seconds.
Daemen secured the win despite shooting just 34-percent (21-of-61) from the field overall and just 3-of-19 from three-point land. The Pioneers also struggled from the floor all game and finished just 18-for-64 (28%) from the field overall and 5-of-17 from downtown. Both teams went 12-for-19 from the charity stripe. Daemen finished with a 49-45 edge in total rebounds.
Daemen returns to action Sunday (Feb. 21) when it hosts league-leading New York Institute of Technology in an ECC game at 1 p.m.
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