AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's basketball team will look to get back on the winning track when it heads to New England this weekend for three games. The Wildcats will face fellow United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) members University of Maine-Presque Isle (Jan. 18) and University of Maine-Fork Kent (Jan. 19), before closing the trip in Boston, Mass. against NAIA member Fisher College (Jan. 21).
 
Daemen (16-6) has been ranked No. 1 in the last six USCAA Division I polls. The Wildcats, who are four wins shy of their 11th-straight 20-win season, have lost their last two games and are coming off a 75-55 setback at NCAA Division I Cornell University this past Sunday.
 
Consistency, a balanced offensive attack and a stingy defense have been the keys to success for head coach David Skolen. Daemen has started the same five players in all 22 games, six different players are averaging at least 7.4 points per game, and the Wildcats are limiting their opponents to less than 60 points a game.
 
Seniors Monica Kosior (Grinsby, Ont./Canisius College) and Ellie Allen (Amherst, N.Y./Sweet Home) have led the charge in recent games.
 
Kosior has shot 64-percent (37-58) and has averaged 16.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.2 blocks over the past five games. She totaled 22 points in the loss to Cornell and is averaging 12.5 points and 8.5 rebounds overall. She leads all USCAA Division I players in blocked shots (57) and currently ranks seventh among Daemen's all-time leaders in career blocks with 112. Allen is averaging a team-high 29.4 minutes per game and has scored in double figures in the last seven games. She is averaging a steady 12.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game and enters this weekend's action just 30 points shy of 1,000 for her career.
 
Senior Chelsea Andorka (Canton, Ohio/Notre Dame College) scored 14 points in a recent 71-65 win over St. Thomas University and is averaging a team-high 13.0 points. She also ranks second on the team in rebounding (7.5 rpg), assists (98), steals (54) and blocks (25).
 
Junior point guard Lindsay Stoddard (Limestone, N.Y./Allegany-Limestone) and senior guard Samantha Stanfield (Brooklyn, N.Y./James Madison) round out the starting five. Stoddard ranks second on the team in three-point field goals (29) and is averaging 9.3 points and a team-high 4.5 assists per game. The 5-foot-5 Stanfield is always around the ball. She is averaging 7.4 points and an impressive 6.7 rebounds per game (third on the team), and leads the team in steals (70).
 
Freshman Raeann Stilwell (Cheektowaga, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) has provided the team with a quality “sixth man” all season. She has scored in double figures nine times and equaled her season-high for points (16) in a win over Maine-Fort Kent last month. She has drained a team-high 36 three-pointers and is averaging 8.6 points with 30 steals. Senior Lia Zahn (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua) and junior Jillian Fitzner (Hamburg, N.Y./Immaculata Academy) have also seen consistent playing time. Zahn has canned 20 three-pointers, while Fitzner scored 12 points in a win over Penn State Worthington Scranton in November.
 
Daemen will be facing Maine-Presque Isle for the first time in program history.
 
UMPI (4-9) has won four of its last five games. The Owls posted wins over Fisher (80-47) and Thomas College (75-71) this past weekend during the UMPI Star City Classic. Senior guard Emily Pelletier drilled four three-pointers and scored 22 points in the win over Fisher, while junior guard Olivio McNally registered 15 points and seven assists in the win over Thomas. Pelletier has made a team-high 31 three-pointers and is averaging 12.7 points. McNally is contributing 10.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. The Owls are averaging 53.8 points per game.
 
Daemen is 5-0 all-time against Maine-Fort Kent. The Wildcats cruised to a 99-50 victory over UMFK last month at Lumsden Gymnasium. Stoddard poured in a career-high 24 points, and equaled her career-high with 12 assists, to lead the way.
 
UMFK (10-8) is ranked 12th in the latest USCAA Division I poll. The Bengals are also coming off wins over Thomas (71-67) and Fisher (86-63) during the UMPI Star City Classic. UMFK has played its last six games without sophomore center Ericka Christensen, who is averaging a team-high 16.1 points and 10.7 rebounds. Freshman forward Samantha Carapellucci (12.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg) has turned in an impressive rookie season and netted 17 points in each of the wins during the UMPI Star City Classic. Additional production has come from junior guard Jenn Colpitts (12.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 50 stls) and junior forward Taylor Boucher (8.7 ppg, 38 3pt fgs). The Bengals are averaging 65.8 points per game.
 
Daemen is 2-0 all-time against Fisher. Both wins came last year when the teams were both members of the American Mideast Conference. The Wildcats posted an 85-29 victory at Daemen, and completed the sweep with a 113-31 win in Boston.
 
Fisher dropped to 0-15 following the losses to UMPI and UMFK last weekend. Senior guard Porsha Grayson and junior guard Javana Bernard have paced the Falcons. Grayson has recorded five double-doubles on the year and is averaging 17.4 points and 7.6 rebounds. Bernard scored 29 points in the loss to UMFK and is averaging 17.8 points and 5.3 rebounds. The Falcons are averaging 42.6 points per game.