Sunday, Jan. 12, 2014 - 1 p.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
Live Stats / Live Video

THE MATCHUP: The Daemen College women's basketball team plays its first home game since Nov. 23 when it hosts the University of the District of Columbia in an East Coast Conference matchup…game time is 1 p.m. at Lumsden Gymnasium.

THE COACHES: David Skolen is entering his 22nd season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen and has posted a 440-227 (.660) 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…Lester Butler, Jr. is in his 10th season as head women's basketball coach UDC…he entered the 2013-14 season with a 131-112 (.539) career record…he guided the Firebirds to the NCAA Division II Tournament in 2009 and 2012…he is a 1998 graduate of Virginia Union University and helped the men's basketball team to four-straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances.

THE SERIES: Sunday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Daemen and UDC.

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…Daemen snapped a six-game losing streak following an 88-86 OT win at Molloy on Dec. 20…the Wildcats trailed by 24 points with eight minutes to play in regulation before rallying for the win…Daemen then suffered a 95-86 OT loss at Queens on Dec. 22 and dropped two of three games last weekend…the Wildcats suffered ECC losses at St. Thomas Aquinas (72-54) and Mercy (93-91), before posting a non-league win at Dominican (83-64) this past Monday…senior guard Lindsay Stoddard is the only returning starter on a roster that includes six freshmen and four sophomores…Stoddard recorded a triple-double (18 pts, 12 rebs, 10 asts) in the loss to Mercy and nearly repeated the feat in the win over Dominican (21 pts, 11 rebs, 8 asts)…she will be playing in her 100th career game Sunday and is averaging 14.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.6 steals…sophomore Raeann Stilwell has averaged 24 points over the past five games and scored a career-high 36 points in the loss to Mercy…she scored 26 points and tied the school-record for three-pointers made (8) and attempted (20) in a game in the win over Molloy…she is averaging 16.8 points with a team-high 34 three-pointers…sophomore Somara Colon is averaging 16 minutes, 5.4 points and 5.3 rebounds off the bench and contributed a career-high 11 points in the win over Dominican…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)…Galus recorded her third double-double of the season (11 pts, 11 rebs) in the loss to STAC and is averaging 12.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks…Heinold was named ECC Rookie of the Week after totaling 23 points, six rebounds and four assists in the win over Molloy…she is averaging 10.6 points and 7.6 rebounds…McDonell scored a season-high 21 points in the loss to Queens and is averaging 8.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals…Daemen is shooting 36-percent from the field overall, 27-percent from three-point land and 70-percent from the charity stripe…the Wildcats are scoring 71.0 points and allowing 76.2 points per game…Daemen owns a -6.9 rebounding margin (45.6 / 52.5).

HOME COOKING: The Wildcats will be playing just their second home game of the 2013-14 season when they host UDC Sunday…Daemen went 11-1 at home last year and is 70-9 at Lumsden Gymnasium over the past six seasons…the Wildcats will play 10 of their final 13 games in the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium.

THE FIREBIRDS: District of Columbia returns seven players and four starters from last year's team that finished 10-18 (5-13 ECC)…UDC was voted seventh in the ECC preseason poll…the Firebirds are receiving votes in the latest WBCA/USA TODAY Division II Top 25…UDC plays at Roberts Wesleyan Friday (Jan. 10) before traveling to Daemen Sunday…the Firebirds opened the year with six-straight wins and are 2-2 over their last four games…UDC opened the New Year with an 85-79 loss to American International on Jan. 4…UDC's four ECC wins have come against STAC (76-62), LIU Post (85-75), Mercy (98-45) and NYIT (77-70)…newcomer Telisha Turner has paced an offense that is averaging a league-high 78.6 points per game…Turner, a transfer from Harcum College, scored 31 points in the loss to AIC and is averaging a league-high 19.4 points per game…junior Denikka Brent totaled 20 points and 13 rebounds in the win over STAC and is averaging 14.0 points and 7.5 rebounds…sophomore Tatyana Calhoun, who earned ECC All-Rookie team honors last year, scored 17 points in the loss to AIC and is averaging 12.3 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds…senior Teara Shaw (7.6 ppg, 24 stls) and junior ShaKena Williams (6.7 ppg) have also produced…UDC is shooting 43-percent from the field overall, 37-percent from three-point land and 75-percent from the charity stripe…the Firebirds are scoring 78.6 points and allowing 68.6 points per game…UDC owns a +2.0 rebounding margin (39.7 / 37.7).

LEAGUE RANKINGS: Daemen leads the ECC in three-pointers made (7.2) and attempted (26.8) per game…the Wildcats also rank third in both assists per game (14.4) and blocks per game (3.7)…UDC ranks first in points per game (78.6), field goal percentage (.433) and free throw percentage (.750), second in steals per game (11.0) and third in fewest turnovers per game (17.6)…Lindsay Stoddard leads the league in assists per game (6.2) and also ranks second in minutes per game (35.1), fifth in rebounding (8.2), eighth in three-point field goals made (19) and ninth in scoring (14.5)…Raeann Stilwell ranks fourth in points per game (16.8), second in three-point field goals (34), sixth in minutes (33.0) and ninth in assists (2.8)…Natalie Galus leads the league in blocks per game (2.5) and ranks fourth in rebounds per game (8.3)…Taylor Heinold ranks 10th in both rebounds per game (7.6) and free throw percentage (.765)…Telisha Turner of UDC ranks first in scoring (19.4), fourth in minutes (33.7), fourth in three-point field goals made (29), fifth in field goal percentage (.455), fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.403) and seventh in free throw percentage (79.5)…Denikka Brent ranks sixth in field goal percentage (.451) and 10th in scoring (14.0)…Tatyana Calhoun ranks second in field goal percentage (.521), sixth in rebounding (8.0) and seventh in free throw percentage (.795)…Teara Shaw ranks fifth in steals (2.4).

DID YOU KNOW?: Daemen has scored 80 or more points in four of its last five games…the Wildcats had won 19-straight games when scoring at least 80 points before suffering their 95-86 OT loss at Queens on Dec. 22…Daemen established a new school-record for three-point field goals made (16) and attempted (47) in a game during its 88-86 OT win at Molloy on Dec. 20…Raeann Stilwell tied the record for three-pointers made (8) and attempted (20) in a game during the win over Molloy…Lindsay Stoddard totaled 178 assists last year which ranked as the seventh most in one season by a Daemen player…Stoddard enters Sunday's game with exactly 400 career assists in 99 career games (4.0 per game)…she is the seventh player in program history to register 400 career assists.

WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen travels to Dowling College (Jan. 17) and the University of Bridgeport (Jan. 18) for ECC games next weekend…Daemen's next home game is set for Friday, Jan. 24 when it hosts St. Thomas Aquinas in an ECC game…the Wildcats suffered a 72-54 loss at STAC last weekend.

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.