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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
wbb vs liu post 1.25.17
Sarah Saba scored 18 of her 28 points in the first half tonight
84
LIU Post LIUPW 9-11, 5-5 ECC
96
Winner Daemen DAEW 8-11, 5-6 ECC
LIU Post LIUPW
9-11, 5-5 ECC
84
Final
96
Daemen DAEW
8-11, 5-6 ECC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
LIU Post LIUPW 17 24 20 23 84
Daemen DAEW 18 16 29 33 96

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Wildcats Stay Hot With Win Over LIU Post

Saba & Heinold Match Career-Highs As Daemen Erupts For 96 Points

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's basketball team erupted for 62 second-half points and closed on an 18-6 run to pick up a key East Coast Conference victory tonight at Lumsden Gymnasium over visiting Long Island University Post by the final score of 96-84.

The win pushes Daemen to 8-11 overall and 5-6 in ECC play this season as the Wildcats look to keep pace with the upper half of the league.  Daemen is one of five ECC teams with five league wins at present, all of which are situated between fourth and seventh place in the league standings.  

It was also Daemen's third straight victory, marking the team's longest winning streak since posting four straight last February.  In the current streak, Daemen is averaging 89.7 points per game and shooting 48.5 percent from the field, including 44.4 percent from three-point range.  The 96 points scored today is a season-high, and the most for Daemen since a 101-83 victory over Briarcliffe College on Dec. 30, 2014.  Daemen has now gone over 80 points in three straight games for the first time since January of 2013, and the Wildcats have won five of their last eight overall, including a 5-1 record at home since Dec. 31.

LIU Post, which had won the previous meeting between these two teams this season (69-59 on Nov. 30), fell to 9-11 overall and 5-5 in the league with the loss this evening.

Junior guard Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) put forth one of the greatest all-around games in team history tonight, finishing with 28 points, seven rebounds, seven blocked shots, five assists and five steals while playing the full 40 minutes; she matched her career-highs in points, steals and assists while setting a new personal best in blocks.  It's the third time this season that Saba has gone for 28 points, and the second time in the last eight days.  She shot 10-for-18 from the field and 8-for-13 at the charity stripe in the game, with 18 of her points coming in the first half.

Freshman guard/forward Jordan Heinold (Hamburg, N.Y./Immaculata) also matched her career-high with 21 points, 17 of which came in the second half.  Heinold, who was 4-for-29 from three-point range over the last six games coming into tonight, busted out in a big way by canning 4-of-7 shots from long distance (3-for-5 in the second half).  She added five rebounds, three assists and two steals as well.

Also stepping up in the second half was seniors Leah McDonell (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Cardinal O'Hara) and Natalie Galus (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier).  McDonell scored 14 of her 19 points after halftime, while Galus recorded 10 second-half points to finish with 15 for the game.  Freshman guard Carina Pringle (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) matched a career-high with five assists.

Senior guard Kristen Olsen (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored 18 points to pace the Pioneers.  Olsen shot 7-of-14 from the field and 4-of-9 from three-point land while adding six rebounds and five assists.

Freshman forward Mikaiya Moore (Amityville, N.Y.) scored 13 of her 17 points in the second half, rebounding from a 1-for-6 start from the field to finish shooting 7-for-14.  Sophomore guard Kyla Formey (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and senior forward Janaysia James (Perth Amboy, N.J.) also reached double figures for LIU Post.  Formey, who came in averaging just 1.6 points per game, totaled 11 tonight, and James came off the bench to toss in 14.

Trailing by one (28-27), the Pioneers used a 14-6 run over the final five minutes of the second quarter to take a 41-34 lead into the locker room at halftime.  The guests forged ahead on a layup by Sasha Patterson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with 4:15 to go, and later got back-to-back three-pointers from Asia Turner (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Olsen to open up its largest lead of the half at 39-32.  Daemen answered with a layup by Galus, but Formey's jumper with under 20 seconds to go put it back to a seven-point edge at the break.

The Pioneers ran their lead to as many as nine points in the third quarter.  It was a nine-point Pioneer advantage (61-52) when Daemen embarked on an 11-0 spurt to close the period with a 63-61 lead.  The Wildcats drew even on a three-pointer by junior forward Liz Miles (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) with 50 ticks left on the third quarter clock, and reclaimed the lead on a layup by Heinold 37 seconds later.

Back-and-forth the teams went over the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter, producing four ties and five lead changes.  The Pioneers went ahead 71-70 on another Olsen three-pointer at the 5:23 mark, only to have Heinold answer with a triple at the other end to put the Wildcats back on top (73-71).  Later, it was a layup by James with 4:39 to play that broke a 73-73 tie, but again Heinold answered with a three-pointer 10 seconds later.  James struck again on the ensuing LIU Post possession, this time converting an old-fashioned three-point play to put the guests on top 78-76.  McDonell's jumper was true at the 3:50 mark, knotting the score at 78-78.

After a minute of scoreless action, Saba delivered the 11th and final lead change of the game, scoring a layup off a feed from Heinold with 2:44 to go, sparking the Wildcats' game-deciding spurt.

The Daemen lead was three points (83-80) when the Wildcats came up with a defensive stop, raced the ball down the floor with a pass inside the paint to Miles who swung it outside to a wide open Galus who knocked down the open three-pointer with 1:32 left.  After another empty possession for the Pioneers, Saba collected the rebound and found Miles who was streaking down the middle of the floor.  She converted the layup to give Daemen an eight-point lead (88-80) with 1:08 to go.  The Pioneers would close to within six points (88-82) but a 6-for-10 showing at the charity stripe in the final minute was good enough to close out the victory for Daemen.

Daemen shot 51.5 percent from the field (33-for-66) and an even 50 percent from three-point range (10-for-20).  Daemen has now made at 10 three-pointers in five games this season, including the last three in a row.

The Wildcats ran to a 24-6 advantage in fast-break points, aided in part by 20 LIU Post turnovers which they turned into 23 points.

The Pioneers grabbed 47 rebounds in the game, including 22 offensive which resulted in 16 second-chance points.  But, the Pioneers managed to corral just one offensive rebound in the fourth quarter.  LIU Post shot 42.7 percent for the game (32-for-75).

Daemen returns to action with an ECC road game at Mercy College this Saturday, Jan. 28.  The Wildcats will be looking for the season sweep in the series after knocking off the Mavs 79-66 here at Lumsden Gymnasium earlier this month.  Tip-off Saturday is slated for 12:30 p.m. at the Westchester Community College Gymnasium.

 
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