Women's Basketball Conference Schedule Announced

By: Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Women's Basketball | 8/16/2017 11:30:00 AM

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's basketball team opens league play on Friday, December 8 by hosting St. Thomas Aquinas College, head coach Jenepher Banker announced today as part of the team's 18-game East Coast Conference slate for the 2017-18 season.

"The East Coast Conference will once again be very strong," said Banker who returns for her second season on the Daemen sidelines, and her seventh as a collegiate head coach overall. "Last season, we had three teams advance to the NCAA Tournament and two of those teams played each other in the Sweet 16. I believe nearly every team in the league will be stronger than last year, and every night will be a battle."

Today's announcement comes shortly after Banker announced the team's 10-game non-conference schedule. Daemen is coming off an 11-15 season in Banker's first year on the bench. The team's 8-10 mark in East Coast Conference games matched the program's highest win total since joining the ECC in 2013-14, finishing seventh in the final league standings, just one win shy of a conference tournament berth. The Wildcats return senior guard Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster), the first two-time first-team All-ECC selection in team history. Saba finished fourth in the league in scoring (15.9 ppg) and 12th in rebounding (7.4 rpg) last season, and she enters her final campaign already ranking 12th on Daemen's all-time scoring list with 1,257 points in her career. Also back are sophomores Jordan Heinold (Hamburg, N.Y./Nardin) and Carina Pringle (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) who combined to make 41 starts as true freshmen last season.

Below is an in-depth look at the 2017-18 conference schedule...

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS SPARTANS	Friday, Dec. 8 @ Daemen - 6 PM	Friday, Feb. 2 @ STAC - 5:30 PM
2016-17 Record: 19-11, 12-6 ECC
2016-17 Conference Finish: T-2nd
2016-17 Postseason: ECC Tournament Semifinals
2016-17 Results vs. Daemen: 1/4/17 - STAC 65-55 \| 2/15/17 - STAC 61-46
All-Time Series: STAC leads 7-2
Opponent Notes: STAC made their ninth postseason appearance in the 10-year tenure of head coach Kim Lusk last season, riding first-team All-ECC guard Jenna Erickson (15.0 ppg, 3.0 apg) who returns for her senior campaign in 2017-18...also back is third-team All-ECC forward Adiya Henderson (9.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg).
MERCY MAVERICKS	Friday, Dec. 15 @ Mercy - 5:30 PM	Friday, Jan. 26 @ Daemen - 6 PM
2016-17 Record: 4-22, 2-16 ECC
2016-17 Conference Finish: T-9th
2016-17 Postseason: None
2016-17 Results vs. Daemen: 1/2/17 - DC 79-66 \| 1/28/17 - DC 64-59
All-Time Series: DC leads 6-2
Opponent Notes: Mercy stumbled during its first year under head coach Jim Harter, but the Mavericks bring back their top four scorers in Latisha Clark (10.8 ppg), Destinee Hall (9.9 ppg), Monet Keane-Dawes (7.6 ppg) and Cynthia Perez (7.3 ppg).
BRIDGEPORT PURPLE KNIGHTS	Sunday, Dec. 17 @ Bridgeport - 1 PM	Sunday, Jan. 28 @ Daemen - 1 PM
2016-17 Record: 15-14, 9-9 ECC
2016-17 Conference Finish: 6th
2016-17 Postseason: ECC Tournament 1st Round
2016-17 Results vs. Daemen: 12/10/16 - DC 72-68 \| 2/2/17 - DC 83-78
All-Time Series: DC leads 6-2
Opponent Notes: Bridgeport snuck into the ECC Tournament last season, finishing one game ahead of Daemen for the No. 6 seed despite Daemen sweeping the season series...it was the Purple Knights' first postseason appearance since the 2012-13 season...UB graduated leading scorer Camera Miley (13.7 ppg), but they will return double-figure scorer Aurelie Leblanc-Florent (12.0 ppg, 73 three-pointers) and third-team All-ECC forward Samnell Vonleh (9.4 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 87 blocks).
ROBERTS WESLEYAN REDHAWKS	Saturday, Jan. 6 @ RWC - 2 PM	Friday, Feb. 9 @ Daemen - 6 PM
2016-17 Record: 21-13, 11-7 ECC
2016-17 Conference Finish: 4th
2016-17 Postseason: ECC Tournament 1st Round, NCCAA Semifinals
2016-17 Results vs. Daemen: 1/18/17 - DC 88-80 \| 2/25/17 - RWC 69-68
All-Time Series: DC leads 33-21
Opponent Notes: Head coach Gary Andrews has taken RWC to the ECC Tournament in each of his first two seasons at the helm...the Redhawks roster features a pair of returning all-conference selections in guards Brooke Fields (15.6 ppg) and Taya Andrews (14.8 ppg)...also back are double-figure scorers Emily Miller (13.7 ppg) and Lucy Covley (10.6 ppg, 107 three-pointers).
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FIREBIRDS	Wednesday, Jan. 10 @ Daemen - 10 AM	Sunday, Feb. 4 @ UDC - 1 PM
2016-17 Record: 3-25, 2-16 ECC
2016-17 Conference Finish: T-9th
2016-17 Postseason: None
2016-17 Results vs. Daemen: 12/3/16 - UDC 56-54 \| 1/21/17 - DC 85-56
All-Time Series: UDC leads 7-1
Opponent Notes: For the third time in as many years, the Firebirds are entering the season under a new head coach as John Nakpodia takes the reins from Juan Dixon after the latter was named the head men's basketball coach at Coppin State...a three-win season in 2016-17 was a break from the norm for the Firebirds who had averaged 16.5 wins over the previous 12 seasons...leading scorer Nyasia Anderson (15.8 ppg) returns for her sophomore season.
LIU POST PIONEERS	Friday, Jan. 12 @ Daemen - 6 PM	Friday, Feb. 23 @ LIU Post - 5 PM
2016-17 Record: 11-17, 7-11 ECC
2016-17 Conference Finish: 8th
2016-17 Postseason: None
2016-17 Results vs. Daemen: 11/30/16 - LIUP 69-59 \| 1/25/17 - DC 96-84
All-Time Series: LIUP leads 5-3
Opponent Notes: LIU Post increased their win total from five in 2015-16 to 11 last season, and they figure to be on the rise again with the return of second-team All-ECC forward Mikaiya Moore (15.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg)...head coach Deirdre Moore has led the Pioneers to a 147-114 record over her nine-year tenure.
NYIT BEARS	Sunday, Jan. 14 @ Daemen - 1 PM	Sunday, Feb. 25 @ NYIT - 1 PM
2016-17 Record: 18-12, 10-8 ECC
2016-17 Conference Finish: 5th
2016-17 Postseason: ECC Tournament Finals, NCAA East Regional Quarterfinals
2016-17 Results vs. Daemen: 12/14/16 - NYIT 64-63 \| 2/8/17 - NYIT 85-74
All-Time Series: NYIT leads 8-0
Opponent Notes: NYIT is coming off its second-straight NCAA Tournament berth, and its third in the last five seasons...they'll figure to be one of the top teams in the league once again with first-team All-ECC guard Nina Vukosavljevic (13.4 ppg, 6.1 apg) and ECC Rookie of the Year Margaret Knollmeyer (14.8 ppg, 10.9 rpg) returning.
MOLLOY LIONS	Friday, Jan. 19 @ Molloy - 5 PM	Friday, Feb. 16 @ Daemen - 6 PM
2016-17 Record: 24-9, 12-6 ECC
2016-17 Conference Finish: T-2nd
2016-17 Postseason: ECC Tournament Finals, NCAA East Regional Finals
2016-17 Results vs. Daemen: 1/14/17 - MC 52-45 \| 2/18/17 - DC 70-50
All-Time Series: DC leads 5-3
Opponent Notes: Molloy put together its most successful season since 2009-10 last year, advancing all the way to the NCAA East Regional Finals after receiving an at-large tourney bid...the Lions graduated their three leading scorers - Kamala Thompson (15.2 ppg), Aliyah McDonald (14.4 ppg) and Symone Kelly (12.2 ppg)...guard Ihnacinse Grady (8.8 ppg) returns after making 31 starts a season ago.
QUEENS KNIGHTS	Sunday, Jan. 21 @ Queens - 1:30 PM	Sunday, Feb. 18 @ Daemen - 1 PM
2016-17 Record: 27-5, 17-1 ECC
2016-17 Conference Finish: 1st
2016-17 Postseason: ECC Tournament Champs, NCAA East Regional Champs, NCAA Elite 8
2016-17 Results vs. Daemen: 1/11/17 - QC 75-40 \| 2/22/17 - QC 84-66
All-Time Series: QC leads 8-0
Opponent Notes: Queens has been the class of the league for the last several seasons, but they'll begin life without two of the greatest players in program history as ECC Player of the Year Madison Rowland (21.8 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 4.7 spg, 3.9 apg) and her sister, ECC Defensive Player of the Year MacKenzie Rowland (17.7 ppg, 11.3 rpg) were lost to graduation.

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen women's basketball team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenWBB on Twitter.

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Players Mentioned

#2 Jordan Heinold: G/F; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#12 Carina Pringle: G; 5' 6"; Sophomore

#11 Sarah Saba: G; 6' 0"; Senior

#12 Darius Garvin: G; 6' 1"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#2 Jordan Heinold
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: G/F

#12 Carina Pringle
: 5' 6"; Sophomore
: G

#11 Sarah Saba
: 6' 0"; Senior
: G

#12 Darius Garvin
: 6' 1"; Junior
: G