Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013
Ted Grant Court - Henninger Athletic Center, Syracuse, N.Y.

THE MATCHUP: The Daemen College women's basketball team heads to Central New York for a non-league game at Le Moyne College…game time is 7 p.m…live stats can be accessed HERE...live streaming video can be accessed HERE.

THE COACHES: David Skolen is entering his 22nd season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen and has posted a 438-218 (.668) record during his time with the Wildcats…he has guided the Wildcats to 11-straight 20-win seasons (15 overall), six conference championships, nine appearances in the NAIA Division II National Tournament and one appearance in the USCAA National Tournament…last winter Skolen led the Wildcats to a 26-7 record and a USCAA Division I National Championship…Gina Castelli is in her first season as head women's basketball coach at Le Moyne…she previously spent 22 years as head coach at Division I Siena College where she posted a record of 336-296 (.532)…named the MAAC Coach of the Year five times (1991, '94, '98, '01 and '02), she led the Saints to seven MAAC regular season championships, seven 20-win seasons and four postseason appearances, including berths in the NCAA Tournament in 2001 and the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) in 1999, 2002 and 2003…Castelli was a standout player at Canisius College where she totaled 1,524 career points and 578 career assists.

THE HISTORY: Wednesday's game will mark the eighth all-time meeting between Daemen and Le Moyne and the first since the 2004-05 season…the teams played seven times between 1996 and 2004…the Dolphins prevailed in the first five meetings and the Wildcats have won the last two…the teams last met on Dec. 19, 2004 at Lumsden Gymnasium and Daemen posted an 89-70 victory…Jillian LaPoint led the way with 24 points and 12 rebounds.

NCAA DIVISION II: Daemen is in Candidacy Year Two of the NCAA Division II membership process...Daemen has been accepted as a member of the East Coast Conference (ECC) and will play full regular-season conference schedules beginning this fall...the College will also maintain its affiliation with the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) for postseason opportunities, as it will not be eligible for the ECC or NCAA postseason during Candidacy Year Two.

THE WILDCATS: Daemen returns just one starter and six players from last year's team that posted a 26-7 record and claimed the USCAA Division I National championship...the Wildcats were voted 10th in the ECC preseason poll…graduation took its toll in the form of 66-percent of the offense from last year…key losses include USCAA All-Americans Monica Kosior (13.8 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 59 blks), Chelsea Andorka (12.4 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 4.2 apg) and Ellie Allen (12.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 3.3 apg)…the Wildcats opened the 2013-14 season with wins over Carlow (60-50) and Penn State Greater Allegheny (76-69) this past weekend at the Penn State Greater Allegheny/USCAA Tipoff Classic…senior guard Lindsay Stoddard (Limestone, N.Y./Allegany-Limestone) is the only returning starter on a roster that includes six freshmen and four sophomores…Stoddard averaged a team-high 5.4 assists per game and also ranked fourth in scoring (9.7 ppg) and second in three-pointers (42)…she totaled nine points and 11 assists in the season-opening win over Carlow and contributed six points, eight rebounds, nine assists and three steals in the tournament championship game against PSGA…sophomore Raeann Stilwell (Cheektowaga, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) also returns after averaging 9.3 points with a team-high 60 three-pointers as a redshirt freshman last year…she was named Tournament MVP this past weekend after scoring 32 points over the two games…she netted 22 points in the championship game…sophomore Somara Colon (Bronx, N.Y./Mott Haven Village Prep) averaged 17.5 minutes off the bench this past weekend and contributed seven points and nine rebounds in the championship game…Daemen's freshman class includes All-Western New York selections Rachel Pawlak (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Niagara-Wheatfield), Taylor Heinold (Hamburg, N.Y./Immaculata), Leah McDonell (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Cardinal O'Hara) and Natalie Galus (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier)…Heinold was named to the all-tournament team following the PSGA/USCAA Tipoff Classic after averaging 14 points and 10 rebounds over the two games…she totaled 17 points and eight rebounds in the title game…Galus totaled 13 points and 18 rebounds in the season-opening win over Carlow and is averaging 14.5 points and 12.0 rebounds…McDonell contributed 11 points, four rebounds and three steals against Carlow.

ROAD WARRIORS: Daemen will play 12 of its first 13 games on the road…the Wildcats played 21 of their 32 games away from the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium last year and posted a 15-6 record in those games…Daemen has won its last eight road games and has prevailed in 68-percent (39-18) of its road games over the past three seasons.

THE DOLPHINS: Le Moyne is a member of the NCAA Division II Northeast-10 Conference…the Dolphins return 10 players and four starters from last year's team that finished 6-20 (4-18 NE-10)…Le Moyne was voted seventh in the NE-10 Southwest Division preseason poll…the Dolphins opened the 2013-14 season with a 77-52 win at Roberts Wesleyan Saturday…sophomore Maggie Brown and juniors Emily Greer and Alex Marple top the list of returning platers…Brown, a 5-foot-9 forward, led the team in scoring (8.8 ppg) and ranked second in rebounding (5.9 rpg) as a rookie…she totaled 10 points and 10 rebounds in the season-opening win over RWC…Greer, a 5-foot-10 forward, drained a team-high 27 three-pointers and averaged 8.7 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds last year…she scored a career-high 18 points and also grabbed seven rebounds in the win over RWC…Marple, a 5-foot-6 guard, averaged 8.1 points last year and netted a career-high 21 points in the season-opening win over RWC…graduate student Kayla Stroman is expected to make immediate contributions…she started all 31 games at Niagara last year and averaged 6.6 points and a team-high 4.0 assists…she earned second-team All-MAAC honors as a junior and was named the 2009-10 MAAC Rookie of the Year…she started and played 16 minutes in the season-opener against RWC…senior guard Maddy McKnight played a team-high 34 minutes in the season-opener and scored 13 points.

DID YOU KNOW?: Lindsay Stoddard totaled 178 assists last year which ranked as the seventh most in one season by a Daemen player…Stoddard entered her senior season with 319 career assists and now needs just 61 assists to become the seventh player in program history to register 400 career assists.

WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen returns to action Saturday (Nov. 16) when its travels to long-time rival Point Park University…game time is 2 p.m…the Wildcats will then host Holy Family University in their 2013-14 home-opener on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 2 p.m…Holy Family is ranked 13th in the preseason USA TODAY/WBCA Division II Top 25…Daemen's complete 2013-14 schedule can be accessed HERE.

FOLLOW THE WILDCATS: Follow Daemen College athletics on Twitter (@DaemenAthletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/daemencollegeathletics) to get live game updates and breaking news throughout the year.