AMHERST, N.Y. – Daemen College basketball standouts Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y.) and Andrew Sischo (Guilderland, N.Y.) have been named the College’s Student-Athletes of the Month presented by Western New York Knee and Orthopedic Surgery PC for December 2017.
Saba, a six-foot senior guard, averaged 19.0 points and 8.2 rebounds over five games last month. She opened the month with 14 points in a loss to nationally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas College, before netting 18 points in a 72-52 win over Mercy College. Two days later she racked up 13 points and 11 rebounds in a 64-60 loss at the University of Bridgeport. The highlight of the month came this past weekend during a road trip to New England. She played all 40 minutes and totaled 28 points and nine boards in a 69-56 loss to Saint Anselm College, and then registered her fourth double-double (22 points, 11 rebounds) of the season in a 69-56 win over Saint Michael’s College. Saba would earn
East Coast Conference Player of the Week honors for her efforts against Saint Anselm and Saint Michael’s—the third time she has picked up the honor over her career.
Saba has scored in double figures in 12 consecutive games, and she leads the ECC in scoring average at 17.9 points per game. She leads the team in field goals made (83) and attempted (204), free throws made (51) and attempted (73), blocks (16), steals (19) and minutes (406).
For her career, Saba has scored 1,490 points in 94 games—placing her just four points shy of sixth place on Daemen's all-time scoring list. She also ranks among Daemen's all-time leaders in field goals made (524 - seventh), field goals attempted (1,302 - sixth), free throws made (353 - fifth), free throws attempted (518 - sixth) and blocked shots (135 - eighth).
Daemen (4-9, 1-2 ECC) returns to ECC play Saturday (Jan. 6) when it travels to longtime rival Roberts Wesleyan College.
Sischo, a 6-foot-9 redshirt freshman center, shot 71 percent (36-for-51) from the field and averaged 14 points and six rebounds over six games last month. He also shot 71 ercent (12-for-17) from the charity stripe and blocked five shots. After seeing limited playing time during losses to Lake Erie College and Saint Thomas Aquinas College early in the month, he totaled 82 points and 33 rebounds over the final four games. He connected on 12-of-14 shots and scored a season-high 27 points in an 86-82 win over Mercy College on Dec. 15, and followed up with 10 points and eight boards in an 84-72 loss to nationally-ranked University of Bridgeport two days later. The Wildcats returned to action on Dec. 30 and Sischo registered his first career double-double in a one-point loss at Saint Michael’s College, as he connected on 11-of-12 shots and totaled 23 points and 11 rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench. He capped the month with a solid showing in a return to his hometown during a 68-60 win over regionally-ranked College of Saint Rose—a win that snapped the Golden Knights' 14-game home winning streak. In his first career start, he sank 8-of-13 field goals and 6-of-9 free throws and totaled 22 points and seven rebounds.
Sischo has been honored as the
ECC Rookie of the Week the past two weeks and has collected the honor three times this season. For the season, Sischo has reached double-figure scoring in nine of Daemen's 13 games, and is averaging 13.2 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game. Connecting on 71-of-124 field goal attempts (57.3 percent), Sischo presently ranks third among the ECC leaders in field goal percentage. He also ranks second in the the league in points per 40 minutes (30.6), and is first among all ECC freshmen in scoring average.
Daemen (7-6, 1-2 ECC) returns to ECC play Saturday (Jan. 6) when it travels to longtime rival Roberts Wesleyan College.
