Box Score

United States Collegiate Athletic Association
Women's Division 1 Championship Tournament – Semifinal
 
Rochester (14-15) 28-29—57
Daemen (25-7) 37-39—76
 
 
UNIONTOWN, Pa. – Top-ranked Daemen College finds itself one win away from a national championship after posting a 76-57 victory over Rochester College here today in the semifinal round of the 2013 United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Division I Women's Basketball Tournament.
 
The Wildcats ran their winning streak to five games and improved to 25-7 on the year. The fourth-seeded Warriors (14-15) saw their season come to an end in the USCAA semifinals for the second-straight year.
 
Daemen will square off against third-seeded Lindenwood University-Belleville for the national championship Saturday (Mar. 2) at 3:15 p.m. Lindenwood-Belleville (20-12) upset second-seeded Ave Maria University 64-57 in the other semifinal game.
 
Rochester had no answer for Daemen's All-American center Monica Kosior (Grimsby, Ont./Canisius College). The 6-foot-5 senior connected on 12-of-17 shots and totaled a career-high 29 points. She went 9-for-11 from the field and scored 21 points in the first half.
 
Four of Daemen's five starters scored in double figures. Senior Ellie Allen (Amherst, N.Y./Sweet Home) nearly recorded a triple double, as she recorded 11 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists. Junior Lindsay Stoddard (Limestone, N.Y./Allegany-Limestone) added 10 points and six assists, while senior Samantha Stanfield (Brooklyn, N.Y./James Madison) added 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals. Not to be overlooked, senior Chelsea Andorka (Canton, Ohio/Notre Dame College) chipped in seven points, seven rebounds and four assists.
 
Senior Sam Tomaschko, a three-time USCAA All-American, led the Warriors with 15 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.
 
Timely three-pointers by Rochester kept the game close in the first half, as the first 15 minutes featured four ties and 12 lead changes. Daemen trailed 25-24 when Kosior scored five-straight points to give the Wildcats a little breathing room at 29-25. Rochester later cut the lead to three after Jazzmone Russell canned two free throws with 3:38 left in the half, but the Wildcats closed out the half with a 6-0 run and took a 37-28 lead into intermission.
 
Rochester outscored Daemen 7-4 over the first three minutes of the second, but the Wildcats answered with back-to-back three-pointers by Andorka and Stoddard and later took a 49-35 lead following a baseline jumper by Stanfield with 14:37 left to play. The teams traded three-pointers, before the Warriors put together an 8-2 run and cut the lead to eight points, 54-46, after Lexi Newson drained a three-pointer with 8:28 to play.
 
The Warriors would come no closer, as Daemen regrouped following a timeout and scored the next four points to regain a 12-point lead. The Wildcats held a 60-50 lead when a three-pointer by Stoddard with 4:57 left sparked Daemen on a decisive 10-0 run. A traditional three-point play by Stanfield with 3:20 left capped the run and gave the Wildcats a 70-50 lead.
 
The Wildcats shot 43-percent (28-65) from the field and knocked down 15-of-19 free throws. Daemen finished with a 43-35 edge in rebounding and assisted on 25 of its 28 field goals. The Wildcats also held the advantage in points off turnovers (22-5) and points in the paint (26-17).
 
Rochester attempted 29 three-pointers and connected on nine.
 
Daemen, which is transitioning from NAIA Division II to NCAA Division II, is in its first year as a member of the USCAA and has wasted no time in making a name for itself. Fueled by three national titles in the fall (men's golf, women's soccer, women's volleyball), the Wildcats currently sit atop the USCAA Director's Cup standings. The Director's Cup is presented annually to signify overall athletic excellence. The Daemen men's basketball team has been ranked in the top five among USCAA teams all season is the No. 3 seed in the men's championship tournament.
 
While Daemen is making its first-ever appearance in the USCAA championship tournament, the Wildcats are no strangers to post-season play. Coach David Skolen has led his troops to 11-straight 20-win seasons and nine appearances in the NAIA Division II championship tournament. The Wildcats appeared in seven of the last nine NAIA Division II Tournaments and advanced to the “Sweet 16” in 2011.