AMHERST, N.Y. – Senior
Shy Britton (Rochester, N.Y./Niagara University) totaled 21 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and six blocks to lead Daemen College to a 72-60 victory over Molloy College here tonight in East Coast Conference women's basketball action.
It marked conference opener for Daemen, which improved to 1-2 overall and 1-0 in the ECC. Molloy dropped to 3-3 overall and 0-2 in the league.
Four of Daemen's five starters scored in double figures. Sophomore
Natalie Galus (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) registered her second-straight double-double and finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks. Galus has now recorded at least one blocked shot in 20-straight games dating back to last season. Freshman
Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) continued her strong play and totaled 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals. Junior
Raeann Stilwell (Cheektowaga, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) connected on 3-of-6 three-pointers and totaled 16 points.
Junior forward Ally Leftridge (Melville, N.Y.) paced Molloy with 20 points and 12 rebounds, while classmate Alexia O'Connor (Centerpoint, N.Y.) added 12 points and three steals.
Daemen raced out to an 11-3 lead, but the Lions answered with eight-straight points (all by O'Connor) to tie the game at 11-11. Daemen snapped the run with a three-pointer by Saba with 13:24 left before halftime. The remainder of the half featured seven ties and four lead changes and neither team led by more than three points. The teams entered halftime knotted at 29-29.
Just like they did at the start of the game, the Wildcats opened the second half strong and opened up a 46-31 lead after Stilwell drained a three-pointer off an inbounds pass with 15:51 left to play. Molloy answered with a three-pointer by sophomore Maggie Salomone (Narragansett, R.I), but the Wildcats continued the run and eventually took a 52-34 lead following a putback by Britton with 13:47 left. Molloy responded with a 12-5 run and cut the lead to 11 points, 57-46, following a three-point play by junior Kimani Jackson (Dix Hills, N.Y) with 8:31 left. The visitors later trimmed the lead to six points, 58-52, following a putback by sophomore Allyah McDonald (Hempstead, N.Y.) with 5:53 left, and the score remained that way until Saba made one-of-two from the charity stripe with 4:33 remaining. Daemen later regained a double-digit lead, 63-53, following a jumper by Britton with just over two minutes on the clock, and the Wildcats later took a 13-point advantage, 66-53, after Galus canned two free throws with 1:27 to play.
Daemen shot 41-percent (14-34) in the second half and was 24-for-66 (36%) from the field for the game. Molloy struggled from the floor the entire game and finished just 20-of-76 (26%) from the field. The Wildcats went 8-for-18 from behind the three-point arc, while the Lions were just 4-for-23 from downtown. Daemen posted a 57-52 edge in rebounds, and the hosts also posted a slim 26-24 edge in points in the paint.
Daemen returns to action tomorrow (Dec. 13) when it hosts Queens College in an ECC game at 2 p.m.
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