Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014 - 1 p.m.
Aquinas Hall, Sparkill, N.Y.
Live Stats / Live Video

Daemen vs. Mercy
Monday, Jan. 6, 2014 - 5:30 p.m.
Mercy Gym, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Live Stats / Live Video

Daemen vs. Dominican
Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014 - 5:30 p.m.
Hennessy Center, Orangeburg, N.Y.
Live Stats / Live Video

THE MATCHUPS: The Daemen College women's basketball team returns to action with a three-game road trip…the Wildcats will face St. Thomas Aquinas (Jan. 4) and Mercy (Jan. 6) in East Coast Conference action, and conclude the trip with a non-conference game at Dominican (Jan. 7).

THE COACHES: David Skolen is entering his 22nd season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen and has posted a 439-225 (.661) 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…Kim Lusk is in her sixth season as head women's basketball coach at St. Thomas Aquinas…she has guided the Spartans to a 74-69 (.517) record over the past five seasons and was named ECC Coach of the Year following the 2010-11 season…she previously spent five season (2002-07) as head coach at New Jersey Institute of Technology and entered the 2013-14 season with a career coaching record of 141-143 (.496)…Rashidi Aiken is in his second season as head women's basketball coach at Mercy…he previously served as assistant head coach at Nyack College…Bill Diener is in his fourth season as head women's basketball coach at Dominican…he has led the Chargers to a 41-42 (.494) record over the past three seasons.

THE SERIES vs. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: Saturday's game will mark the second all-time meeting between Daemen and St. Thomas Aquinas…the Spartans own a 1-0 advantage in the series.

THE SERIES vs. MERCY: Monday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Daemen and Mercy.

THE SERIES vs. DOMINICAN: Tuesday's game will mark the second all-time meeting between Daemen and Dominican…the Wildcats own a 1-0 advantage in the series.

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 (3-7, 1-4 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…the Wildcats opened the 2013-14 season with wins over Carlow (60-50) and Penn State Greater Allegheny (76-69) at the Penn State Greater Allegheny/USCAA Tipoff Classic before suffering six-straight losses to Le Moyne (80-68), Point Park (77-62), nationally-ranked Holy Family (70-68), Roberts Wesleyan (79-69), LIU Post (75-56) and New York Tech (79-62)…Daemen snapped the slide with 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…senior guard Lindsay Stoddard is the only returning starter on a roster that includes six freshmen and four sophomores…Stoddard has scored in double figures in seven of the last eight games and nearly recorded a triple-double (19 pts, 11 rebs, 6 asts) in the win over Molloy…she is averaging 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.9 steals…sophomore Raeann Stilwell scored a career-high 26 points and tied the school-record for three-pointers made (8) and attempted (20) in a game in the win over Molloy…she followed up with 21 points in the loss to Queens and is averaging 14.6 points with a team-high 22 three-pointers…sophomore Somara Colon is averaging 16.5 minutes, 5.8 points and 5.6 rebounds off the bench and contributed 10 points and seven rebounds in the loss to Le Moyne…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 second double-double of the season (17 pts, 12 rebs) in the loss to NYIT and is averaging 12.0 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.4 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 7.3 rebounds…McDonell scored a season-high 21 points in the loss to Queens and is averaging 8.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals…Daemen is shooting 35-percent from the field overall, 27-percent from three-point land and 72-percent from the charity stripe…the Wildcats are scoring 69.5 points and allowing 76.0 points per game…Daemen owns a -9.0 rebounding margin (45.1 / 54.1).

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…the Wildcats have prevailed in 63-percent (40-24) of their road/neutral site games since the start of the 2010-11 season.

THE SPARTANS (6-3, 2-2 ECC): St. Thomas Aquinas returns nine players and three starters from last year's team that finished 13-16 (9-9 ECC)…STAC was voted sixth in the ECC preseason poll…sophomore forward Alyson Brennan was named to the ECC All-Rookie team last year after averaging 8.0 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds…the Spartans opened the year with non-league wins over Southern Connecticut (67-62), Nyack (77-60) and Dominican (67-62), before suffering a 76-62 loss to District of Columbia in their ECC opener…STAC is 3-2 over its last five games and is playing its first game since suffering a 57-44 loss to Dowling on Dec. 21…STAC's two ECC wins have come over Mercy (90-88) and Bridgeport (51-47)…junior forward Sabrina Eggink and freshman guard Kristen Olsen have paced the Spartans thus far…Eggink had 26 points and 10 rebounds in an 83-77 OT win over Felician and leads the team in scoring (14.9 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg)…Olsen is averaging 10.1 points off the bench and leads the team in three-pointers (17), assists (20) and steals (15)…Brennan scored 23 points in the season-opening win over SCSU and is averaging 9.9 points and 6.8 rebounds…sophomore guard Colleen Ames (7.3 ppg, 15 3pt fgs) and freshman forward Kaitlyn McCue (6.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg) have also produced…STAC is shooting 37-percent from the field overall, 34-percent from three-point land and 71-percent from the charity stripe…the Spartans are scoring 65.1 points and allowing 65.1 points per game…STAC owns a -0.5 rebounding margin (37.9 / 38.4).

THE MAVERICKS (1-8, 0-4 ECC): Mercy returns just four players and one starter from last year's team that finished 0-26 (0-18 ECC)…Mercy was voted 11th in the ECC preseason poll…the Mavericks opened the year with losses to Georgian Court (74-69) and Keystone (71-70), before posting a 95-67 win over Yeshiva on Nov. 21…the win snapped a 30-game losing streak that dated back to the end of the 2011-12 season…the Mavericks have dropped six-straight games since the win over Yeshiva…Mercy's four ECC losses have come against STAC (90-88), District of Columbia (98-45), Dowling (81-62) and Bridgeport (91-67)…newcomers Maggie Salomone, Pam Sosa and Tanaysha Augustine have made immediate contributions…Salomone scored 23 points in the loss to Georgian Court and is averaging 15.5 points with a team-high 19 three-pointers…Sosa had 26 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Yeshiva and is averaging 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds…Augustine had a double-double (15 pts, 10 rebs) in the loss to Bridgeport and is averaging 12.1 points and 10.6 rebounds…senior Maria Nardull, the lone returning starter from last year, is averaging 9.7 points with 13 three-pointers…Mercy is shooting 34-percent from the field overall, 30-percent from three-point land and 70-percent from the charity stripe…the Mavericks are scoring 69.3 points and allowing 80.9 points per game…Mercy owns a -6.0 rebounding margin (41.81 / 47.1).

THE CHARGERS (3-7, 1-3 CACC): Dominican is a member of the NCAA Division II Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC)…the Chargers return eight players and two starters from last year's team that finished 18-10 (14-5 CACC) and advanced to the semifinals of the CACC Tournament…DC was voted second in the CACC North Division preseason poll…the Chargers went 1-4 during the month of December, defeating Pace (61-54) and losing to Holy Family (90-65), St. Rose (67-51) and American International (70-52)…DC defeated Molloy (80-69) and lost to STAC (67-52) earlier this year…the Chargers host Philadelphia in a CACC game Saturday (Jan. 4) before taking on Daemen Tuesday…senior forward KC Jentzen collected third-team All-CACC honors last year and is averaging a team-high 18.0 pointed and 10.8 rebounds this year…she has recorded four double-doubles on the year and racked up 29 points and 15 rebounds in the win over Molloy…junior guard Lashonda Hathorne netted a season-high 19 points in a 77-74 season-opening loss to New Haven and is averaging 11.8 points…freshman forward Lisa Bouffard has started all 10 games and is averaging 8.8 points and 4.9 rebounds…senior Nicole Welton and freshman Shannon McGill are tied for the team-lead in three-point field goals made (22)…DC is shooting 37-percent from the field overall, 32-percent from three-point land and 69-percent from the charity stripe…the Chargers are scoring 63.6 points and allowing 68.4 points per game…DC owns a -8.6 rebounding margin (36.1 / 44.7).

LEAGUE RANKINGS: Daemen leads the ECC in three-pointers made (7.5) and attempted (28.1) per game…STAC ranks third in fewest points allowed per game (65.1) and leads the league in fewest turnovers per game (16.3)…Daemen ranks fourth in rebounds per game (45.1), assists per game (13.9), blocks per game (3.5) and free throw percentage (71.7)…Mercy ranks third in steals per game (11.0)…Lindsay Stoddard leads the league in assists per game (5.7) and also ranks second in minutes per game (35.0), ninth in three-point field goals (16), 10th in both scoring (14.3) and steals (1.9) and 11th in rebounding (7.3)…Raeann Stilwell ranks seventh in points per game (14.6) and fourth in three-point field goals (22)…Natalie Galus ranks fourth in rebounds per game (8.9) and second in blocks per game (2.4)…Taylor Heinold ranks 11th in rebounds per game (7.3), while Leah McDonell ranks ninth in steals per game (2.0)…Sabrina Eggink of STAC ranks fifth in scoring (14.9) and eighth in rebounding (7.7)…Maggie Salomone of Mercy leads the league in free throws made (50) and ranks fourth in scoring (15.0) and sixth in three-pointers (19)…Tanayzha Augustine of Mercy ranks second in rebounds per game (10.6) and third in minutes per game (34.8)…Shayne Ortiz of Mercy ranks third in assists (4.1) and second in steals (3.2).

DID YOU KNOW?: 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…Daemen had won 19-straight games when scoring at least 80 points before suffering its 95-86 OT loss at Queens on Dec. 22…prior to that, the last time the Wildcats scored at least 80 and lost was on Feb. 15, 2011—an 83-80 OT loss to Roberts Wesleyan…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 entered her senior season with 319 career assists and now needs 24 assists to become the seventh player in program history to register 400 career assists.

WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen will play its first home game since Nov. 23 when it hosts University of District of Columbia Sunday, Jan. 12 at 1 p.m.

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.