Holy Family (2-2, 0-0 CACC) 32-38—70
Daemen (2-3, 0-0 ECC) 35-33—68
 
AMHERST, N.Y. – Senior center Carolyne Heston (Feasterville, Pa.) totaled 16 points and seven rebounds and senior guard Mary Ellen McCollum (Abington, Pa.) added 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists to lead the nationally-ranked Holy Family University women's basketball team to a 70-68 victory over Daemen College here today.

Holy Family, a member of the NCAA Division II Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC), evened its record at 2-2 on the year. The Tigers have averaged 26 wins over the past three seasons and entered today's game ranked 12th in the latest USA TODAY/WBCA Division II poll. Daemen, a first-year member of the NCAA Division II East Coast Conference (ECC), dropped to 2-3.

Senior Maggie Serratelli (Bethlehem, Pa.) added 11 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals for HFU, while sophomore Erin Fenningham (Philadelphia, Pa.) totaled 11 points and three assists. Sacred Heart Academy graduate Sarah Pawlak (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) totaled nine points and seven boards for the visitors.

Senior Lindsay Stoddard (Limestone, N.Y.) paced the Wildcats with 22 points, six rebounds and three assists. Freshman Taylor Heinold (Hamburg, N.Y.) scored 10 points and added eight rebounds, while fellow rookie Natalie Galus Hamburg, N.Y.) added six points and team-high 12 rebounds. Sophomore Raeann Stilwell (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) added 10 points, five assists and three steals for the hosts, while sophomore Somara Colon (Bronx, N.Y.) 10 points and six board off the bench.

HFU took a 62-56 lead after McCollum drained two free throws with 6:12 to play, but Daemen scored the next six points and tied the game at 62-62 after Stoddard fed Heinold for a layup with 4:21 left. HFU answered with a three-pointer by Serratelli , but Heinold answered with a triple of her own at the other end and game was knotted at 65 with just over three minutes to play.

Neither team scored again until the 1:16 mark when a layup by Pawlak gave the Tigers a 67-65 lead. Stoddard answered with a three-pointer from the top of the key with 54 seconds left, but the Tigers took the lead for good after McCollum drained two free throws with 25 seconds left.  Daemen came up empty on its next possession, but the Wildcats still had one last chance after Fenningham split a pair of free throws with 13 ticks on the clock. Stoddard's potential game-tying jumper just before the final buzzer was off the mark.

Daemen jumped out to an early 9-5 lead, before a layup by Heston sparked the Tigers on an 11-0 run over the next three minutes. Pawlak netted the final five points of the run, as she drained a jumper with 15:50 to play in the half and then converted a conventional three-point play with 13:07 left before the break.

Daemen regained the lead when freshman Rachel Pawlak (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Niagara-Wheatfield), Sarah's younger sister, drained a three-pointer with 11:14 to play in the half that gave the Wildcats a 16-14 advantage. The hosts later took their largest lead of the half, 26-20, after Stilwell drained a three-pointer with 8:56 left in the half. HFU answered with a triple by Fenningham and the teams traded baskets the rest of the half. The Wildcats took a 35-32 advantage into the break.

Daemen took its largest lead of the second half, 45-40, following a jumper by Colon with 15:32 to play, but the Tigers outscored the Wildcats 22-11 over the next nine minutes. A three-pointer by Heston and two free throws by McCollum capped the run and gave the Tigers a 62-56 lead with 6:12 remaining.

HFU canned 18-of-23 free throws in the game and outscored the Wildcats by 10 (18-8) from the charity stripe. The Tigers also posted a 53-46 edge in rebounding.

Daemen returns to action Tuesday (Nov. 26) when it travels to rival Roberts Wesleyan College for a 6 p.m. game. It will mark Daemen's first-ever ECC game.