Friday, Jan. 17, 2014 - 5 p.m.
Dowling Gymnasium, Oakdale, N.Y.
Live Stats

Daemen vs. Bridgeport
Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014 - 2 p.m.
Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium, Bridgeport, Conn.
Live Stats / Live Video

THE MATCHUPS: The Daemen College women's basketball team hits the road once again this weekend for ECC games at Dowling College (Jan. 17) and the University of Bridgeport (Jan. 18)…it will mark the next to last regular-season road trip for the Wildcats this season.

THE COACHES: David Skolen is entering his 22nd season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen and has posted a 440-228 (.659) 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…Bill Carpenter is in his first season as head women's basketball coach at Dowling…he was an assistant coach at Dowling last winter and also spent time as an assistant coach at the Division I level with Northeastern, Fairleigh Dickinson and Iona…Jennifer Carleton is in her first season as head women's basketball coach at Bridgeport…she spent the last six years as head coach at Goldey-Beacom and posted a 94-76 (.553) record during her time at GBC…she led GBC to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) title and the program's first-ever NCAA Division II Tournament bid in 2011.

THE SERIES vs. DOWLING: Friday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Daemen and Dowling.

THE SERIES vs. BRIDGEPORT: Saturday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Daemen and Bridgeport.

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 (4-10, 1-7 ECC): 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 three-game losing streak following a non-league win at Dominican (83-64) on Jan. 7 and is coming off a 74-63 league loss to the District of Columbia this past weekend…Daemen's other ECC losses have come against Roberts Wesleyan (79-69), LIU Post (75-56), New York Tech (79-62), Queens (95-86 OT), STAC (72-54) and Mercy (93-91)…DC's ECC win came at Molloy (88-86 OT)…the Wildcats trailed by 24 points with eight minutes to play in regulation against Molloy before rallying for the win…senior guard Lindsay Stoddard is the only returning starter on a roster that includes six freshmen and four sophomores…Stoddard was named ECC Co-Player of the Week after averaging a triple-double during three games last week…she recorded her first career 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 is averaging 14.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.6 steals…sophomore Raeann Stilwell has averaged 23.2 points over the past six 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 17.0 points with a team-high 39 three-pointers…sophomore Somara Colon is averaging 15 minutes, 5.0 points and 4.9 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 had 15 points, nine rebounds and five blocks in the loss to UDC and is averaging 11.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.6 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 10.9 points and 7.7 rebounds…McDonell scored a season-high 21 points in the loss to Queens and is averaging 7.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals…Daemen is shooting 36-percent from the field overall, 27-percent from three-point land and 71-percent from the charity stripe…the Wildcats are scoring 70.4 points and allowing 75.9 points per game…Daemen owns a -7.9 rebounding margin (44.9 / 52.8).

ROAD WARRIORS: Daemen has played 12 of its first 14 games on the road…after this weekend's action the Wildcats will play nine of their final 10 games in the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium.

THE GOLDEN LIONS (4-8, 3-4 ECC): Dowling returns seven players and two starters from last year's team that finished 30-4 (17-1 ECC)…the Golden Lions claimed the ECC regular-season and tournament championships, the NCAA Tournament East Regional championship and became the first-ever East Region team to advance to the NCAA Tournament national championship game…DC was voted third in the ECC preseason poll…first-year head coach Bill Carpenter must over come the graduation of forward Danielle Wilson and guard Connie Simmons…Wilson was voted ECC Player of the Year & Defensive Player of the Year last year, while Simmons collected second-team All-ECC honors…the Golden Lions lost six of their first seven games and are 3-2 over their last five games…DC is coming off losses to NYIT (69-57) and LIU Post (69-63)…additional ECC losses have come against Queens (42-38) and Molloy (55-52)…DC's three ECC wins have come over Bridgeport (70-36), Mercy (81-62) and STAC (57-44)…junior guard Christine Verrelle totaled 21 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in the win over STAC and is averaging 13.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals…sophomore guard Krstina Surlan netted 20 points in a 73-67 non-league win over Southern Connecticut on Jan. 4 and is averaging 10.4 points and 5.5 rebounds…senior forwards Julia Koppl (9.2 ppg, 7.8 rpg) and Rekik Worku (9.0 ppg) have also produced…Koppl totaled 18 points and 12 rebounds in the loss to LIU Post last weekend…DC is shooting 37-percent from the field overall, 29-percent from three-point land and 73-percent from the charity stripe…the Golden Lions are scoring 58.9 points and allowing 60.1 points per game…DC owns a -1.6 rebounding margin (36.4 / 38.0).

THE PURPLE KNIGHTS (3-10, 1-6 ECC): Bridgeport returns nine players and two starters from last year's team that finished 18-10 (12-6 ECC) and advanced to the semifinals of the ECC Tournament…UB was voted eighth in the ECC preseason poll…first-year head coach Jennifer Carleton must over come the graduation of first-team All-ECC selections Tanisha Carter and Priscilla Dodoo…Carter ranked second among the ECC scoring leaders last winter (17.4 ppg), while Dodoo ranked fourth (16.1 ppg)…UB hosts Roberts Wesleyan Friday (Jan. 17) before hosting Daemen Saturday…the Purple Knights opened the year with non-league wins over Felician (90-79) and Post (86-76), but have gone 1-10 since…UB is coming off losses to LIU Post (81-65) and NYIT (79-60)…additional ECC losses have come against Dowling (70-36), Molloy (70-52), Queens (60-53) and STAC (51-47)…UB's lone ECC win came over Mercy (91-67)…junior college transfer Tiara Aziz totaled 33 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in the win over Mercy and is averaging a team-high 12.4 points…senior guard Aziza Patterson totaled 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals in the loss to NYIT last weekend and is averaging 10.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists…junior guard Jennifer Kucukkaya (8.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg) and 6-foot-3 center Shannon Holt (8.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 29 blks) have also produced…Holt had 18 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks in the win over Mercy…UB is shooting 33-percent from the field overall, 24-percent from three-point land and 73-percent from the charity stripe…the Purple Knights are scoring 62.7 points and allowing 71.8 points per game…UB owns a -2.0 rebounding margin (43.8 / 45.8).

LEAGUE RANKINGS: Daemen leads the ECC in three-pointers made (7.1) and attempted (26.8) per game…the Wildcats also rank second in blocks per game (3.9), third in both assists per game (14.6) and rebounds per game (44.9) and sixth in points per game (70.4)…Dowling leads the league in fewest points allowed per game (60.1) and ranks second in fewest turnovers per game (17.1)…Bridgeport ranks third in blocks (3.7) and fifth in rebounds (43.8)…Lindsay Stoddard leads the league in assists per game (6.6) and also ranks second in minutes per game (35.3), seventh in rebounding (7.9), eighth in three-point percentage (.370), ninth in scoring (14.3) and 11th in three-point field goals made (20)…Raeann Stilwell ranks fourth in points per game (17.0), second in three-point field goals (39), fifth in minutes (33.4) and 10th in assists (2.9)…Natalie Galus leads the league in blocks per game (2.6) and ranks fourth in rebounds per game (8.4)…Taylor Heinold ranks 12th in rebounds per game (7.7) and ninth in free throw percentage (.789)…Christine Verrelle of Dowling ranks first in minutes (36.5), third in field goal percentage (.486), fourth in free throw percentage (.840), sixth in assists (3.4) and 13th in scoring (13.1)…Julia Koppl of Dowling ranks ninth in rebounding (7.8)…Aziza Patterson of Bridgeport ranks eighth in assists (3.0) and sixth in free throw percentage (.814)…Shannon Holt of Bridgeport ranks second in blocks (2.2).

DID YOU KNOW?: Daemen has averaged 77.5 points over its last six games…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…Stilwell led the team in three-pointers last year (60), which ranked as the fifth most in one season by a Daemen player…she enters this weekend's action just one three-pointer shy of 100 for her career…Lindsay Stoddard totaled 178 assists last year which ranked as the seventh most in one season by a Daemen player…Stoddard recently recorded her 400th career assist and enters this weekend's action ranked seventh in career assists (412) among Daemen's all-time leaders.

WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen begins a stretch of seven-straight home games when it hosts St. Thomas Aquinas (Jan. 24) and Mercy (Jan. 26) in ECC games next 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.