Box Score AMHERST, NY - Junior center Monica Kosior had the second double-double of her career to lead the Daemen Wildcats to a 74-50 victory over the visiting Houghton Highlanders, keeping their hopes alive of clinching the #2 seed in the upcoming American Mideast Conference Tournament.  Kosior led the way for Daemen with 14 points and and a career-high 14 rebounds, helping Daemen move to 21-6 on the season and 11-2 in conference play.  Houghton falls to 13-12, 5-8.

The Wildcats raced out to an 18-2 lead in the opening five-and-a-half minutes with Kosior accounting for eight points in the run as she canned her first four attempts from the field.  Then, the Daemen offense sputtered as it produced just two points over the next 5:45, allowing Houghton to cut the deficit to eight, at 20-12 with 8:45 remaining in the opening half.  A 9-1 spurt got Daemen going once again, with all nine points coming from the junior duo of Chelsea Andorka and Ellie Allen, pushing the Daemen lead to 29-13.  At the break, Daemen led 36-23.

The Wildcats quickly extended the lead to 25 by scoring the first 12 points of the half to lead 48-23 with 15:42 to play.  Houghton would cut the deficit under 20 just once, on a bucket by Michelle Persons with 7:38 left.  Daemen responded by scoring the next nine points and led by as many as 32 late in the game.

Andorka paced the Wildcats as the reigning AMC Player of the Week finished with 20 points - her second consecutive 20-point game, during an 8-for-13 shooting performance that saw her knock down a season-best three shots from the land of plenty.  

Allen added a double-double of her own with 11 points and 10 rebounds - her second of the season and first since Nov. 13.  Samantha Stanfield and Courtney Donovan each canned 10 points, putting all five starters in double figures.  Stanfield added six boards and five steals while Donovan dished out six assists.

Alicia Marhefka put together a fine game in a losing effort for Houghton with 14 points and 13 rebounds.  Kristen Moose chipped in with 10 points and nine boards for the Highlanders.

The win sets up a huge conference finale at home this Saturday when the Wildcats host conference-leading Point Park.  Should Daemen defeat the Pioneers (21-5, 12-1 AMC), the two teams will share the regular season conference championship.  However, due to the situation regarding AMC-school Walsh (all games vs. Walsh do not count towards playoff seeding), Point Park has already clinched the top seed in the AMC Tourney.  Therefore, a win by Daemen on Saturday would clinch the #2 seed and give Daemen a home semifinal contest on Tuesday, February 21.  A loss on Saturday could end up in Daemen and Roberts Wesleyan tying for the #2 seed which would result in a coin flip to determine the host of #2 vs. #3 semifinal game.