Box Score

Daemen (15-4) 42-31--73
Ave Maria (6-6) 26-36--62

AVE MARIA, Fla. - The Daemen College women's basketball team never trailed as they took home a 73-62 victory over Ave Maria University in a battle of the top two ranked teams in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) poll at Tom Golisano Field House today.

Daemen, the top-ranked team in the USCAA for the last four successive polls, improved to 15-4 on the season while the host Gyrenes dropped to 6-6 after playing their third game in as many days as part of the Ave Maria Holiday Classic.

Senior guard Ellie Allen (Amherst, N.Y./Sweet Home) knocked down 7-of-8 from the free throw line and led a balanced Daemen attack with 15 points.  Fellow senior Monica Kosior (Grimsby, Ont./Canisius College) continued her dominance down low as the 6'5" center racked up her seventh double-double of the season, and third in the last four games, with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Freshman guard Raeann Stilwell (Cheektowaga, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) came off the bench to score 13 points that included a 3-for-5 showing from three-point range whlie senior starter Samantha Stanfield (Brooklyn, N.Y./James Madison) added 12 points and seven rebounds.

The Wildcats, fresh off a come-from-behind victory over Valley City State University yesterday, wasted no time at the onset today as they scored the game's first six points and opened on a 15-4 run.  All five starters scored in the spurt which was capped by a Stilwell three-pointer at the 14:07 mark of the first half.

Later in the half, Daemen used a 12-4 run to turn a 13-point lead (30-17) into a 21-point bulge (42-21) with 1:36 to go in the period.

AMU scored the final five points of the half to trail 42-26 at the break.

An 8-3 spurt in the first three-plus minutes of the second half saw Daemen run their lead back to 21 (50-29).  Back-to-back layups by Stanfield capped the run.

The Gyrenes responded with a 12-2 run of their own, cutting the Daemen lead to just 11 (52-41) with 12:55 to play.

Kosior scored five straight points on a traditional three-point play and layup and Allen added two free throws to re-establish an 18-point Daemen advantage (59-41) with 11:48 remaining.

Later in the half, AMU put together its best run of the game, an 11-2 spurt that cut the deficit to single digits (65-56) for the first time since the 9:53 mark of the first half.  Amber Frounfelter's three-pointer at the 5:01 mark of the second half capped the run.

Daemen responded with two Kosior free throws and single freebies from junior guard Lindsay Stoddard (Limestone, N.Y./Allegany-Limestone) and Allen to push the lead back to 13 with 3:26 to play (69-56).

From there, AMU would get no closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

Erin Murphy scored a game-high 17 points and hauled in 13 rebounds to lead the Gyrenes.  Emily Huber chipped in with 15 points and seven boards while Frounfelter came off the bench to score 14.

Senior guard/forward Chelsea Andorka (Canton, Ohio/Notre Dame College) had a tough shooting night (3-for-12) but still managed nine points, 11 rebounds and six assists in her usual stat-sheet-stuffing effort.  Stoddard dished six assists as well.

The Wildcats will rest tomorrow before heading across the Sunshine State to face St. Thomas University in the Greater Miami area on New Year's Day at 7 p.m.