AMHERST, N.Y. – Daemen College basketball standouts
Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) and
Jeff Redband (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia) have been named the College's Student-Athletes of the Month presented by Western New York Knee and Orthopedic Surgery PC for December 2016.
Saba, a six-foot junior guard, averaged 16.5 points and 6.3 rebounds over six games last month. She totaled 16 points, eight rebounds and two steals in a 72-68 victory over then regionally-ranked University of Bridgeport on Dec. 10—marking the first time since the Wildcats started playing a predominantly NCAA Division II schedule in 2013-14 that they have defeated a regionally-ranked opponent. Saba would then earn East Coast Conference Player of the Week honors for her efforts in a pair of close losses to New York Institute of Technology and Saint Anselm College. She scored a career-high 28 points in a one-point loss to NYIT and totaled 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists in a loss to Saint Anselm. She also became the 23rd member of Daemen's 1,000-Point Club during the loss to St. Anselm. Saba closed out the month with another 17-point effort in another one-point loss—-this time to Saint Michael's College, and 13 points and eight boards in a victory over Lake Erie College.
Saba has scored in double figures in 12 of 13 games this season and leads the team in points per game (16.8) and rebounds per game (7.3). She ranks third among the ECC leaders in scoring average and 11th in rebounding.
Last year Saba became the first-ever women's basketball player from Daemen to earn first-team All-ECC honors. She closed out the 2015-16 season as Daemen's leader in points (432), rebounds (165), blocks (44) and steals (36), and became the first player since former great Sarah Soroka in 2010-11 to lead the team in points, rebounding, blocks and steals. Saba has played in all 68 games over the past three seasons (64 as a starter) and has totaled 1,061 points (15.6 ppg) and 470 rebounds (6.9 rpg. She has scored in double figures in 59 of her 68 career games.
Daemen (5-8, 2-3 ECC) returns to action tonight (Jan. 4) when it hosts league-leading Saint Thomas Aquinas College (11-3, 5-1 ECC) in a league game.
Redband, a 6-foot-7 redshirt-freshman forward, shot 52-percent (17-33) from three-point land and averaged 13 points over five games last month. He made 5-of-7 from downtown and totaled 17 points and a season-high six rebounds in a loss at the University of Bridgeport on Dec. 10 and followed up with 13 points in a win over New York Institute of Technology. The highlight of the month came in a win over Saint Michael's College when he once again drilled five three-pointers and scored 19 points. He capped off the month with a solid effort in a three-point loss to regionally-ranked College of Saint Rose, as he played a season-high 34 minutes, drilled four three-pointers and scored a team-high 14 points.
Redband, who was honored as the ECC Rookie of the Week for his play in late November, is one of only three players on the team who has started all 13 games this year. He is averaging 11.4 points and 3.4 rebounds, and leads the team in three-pointers made (35), three-pointers attempted (78) and blocks (11). His three-point field goal percentage of .449 is highest on the team among players who are averaging at least one triple per game. He ranks third among the ECC leaders in three-pointers made and eighth in three-point field goal percentage.
Daemen (8-5, 2-3 ECC) returns to action tonight (Jan. 4) when it hosts league-leading Saint Thomas Aquinas College (10-3, 5-1 ECC) in a league game.
