THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's basketball team heads to Long Island, N.Y. to take on fellow United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) member Briarcliffe College Tuesday (Dec. 30).
Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014
Daemen at Briarcliffe - 5:30 p.m.
DAEMEN STATS / BRIARCLIFFE STATS
THE COACHES: David Skolen is in his 23rd season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen and has posted a 446-240 (.650) record during his time with the Wildcats…he has guided the Wildcats to fifteen 20-win seasons, six conference championships, nine appearances in the NAIA Division II National Tournament and one appearance in the USCAA National Tournament…in 2012-13 Skolen led the Wildcats to a 26-7 record and a USCAA Division I National Championship…Jay Lynch is in his sixth season as head coach at Briarcliffe…he previously coached nationally ranked Tolentine High School in the Bronx…he led Tolentine to an undefeated season and NYC championship and is one of only a handful of NYC high school coaches to have played on and coached an undefeated championship team in the competitive CHSAA.
THE HISTORY: Tuesday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Daemen and Briarcliffe.
MOVE TO II: Daemen is in Candidacy Year Three of the NCAA Division II membership process…Daemen was accepted as a member of the East Coast Conference (ECC) and began playing full regular-season conference schedules in the fall of 2013…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 Three.
THE WILDCATS (2-4): Daemen returns four starters and 10 players from last year's team that posted an 8-18 overall record and a 5-15 mark in its first season as a member of the East Coast Conference...the Wildcats were voted 10th in the 2014-15 ECC preseason poll…veteran head coach David Skolen must overcome the graduation of point guard Lindsay Stoddard, who collected second team All-ECC honors after ranking second on the team in scoring (14.9 ppg) and leading he team in rebounding (8.8 rpg) and assists (6.1 apg)…Daemen is ranked 18th in the latest USCAA Division I poll…the Wildcats are playing their first game since splitting two games during a trip to Miami, Fla. two weeks ago…Daemen suffered a 74-64 loss to Barry, before posting a 65-53 victory over Goucher…junior Raeann Stilwell and sophomores Natalie Galus, Taylor Heinold and Leah McDonell top the list of returning players…Stilwell scored in double figures in 24 of 26 games last year and averaged a team-high 17.0 points with a school-record 77 three-pointers…she scored 17 points in the loss to Barry and is averaging 15.3 points with a team-high 15 three-pointers…Galus, Heinold and McDonell each started all 26 games as rookies…Galus led the ECC in blocked shots (62) and averaged 11.2 points and 7.0 rebounds last year…she totaled 10 points, nine rebounds and four blocks in the loss to Barry and is averaging 9.5 points and 9.2 rebounds…Heinold averaged 9.2 points and 6.7 rebounds last year, while McDonell averaged 6.0 points and 4.9 rebounds…Heinold has missed the last five games due to injury, while McDonell scored a season-high 13 points in the win over Goucher…senior Shy Britton and freshmen Sarah Saba and Liz Miles have made immediate impacts…Britton played in 85 games during her three years (2010-13) at Division I Niagara University and averaged 5.8 points and 3.2 rebounds over her career…she totaled 21 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks in a 72-60 win over Molloy and followed up with 20 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in an 82-67 loss to Queens…she is averaging 14.2 points and 8.5 rebounds with 25 blocks…Saba played four years of varsity basketball at Lancaster High School and scored a school-record 1,176 career points…she earned first-team All-Western New York and eighth team Class AA all-state honors as a senior…she made her first career start in an 85-72 loss to Point Park and totaled 21 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks…she is averaging 11.8 points and 5.7 rebounds…Miles played at state powerhouse Cicero-North Syracuse and helped the Northstars to three NYSPHSAA regional titles and one (2012) state championship…she is averaging 12 minutes off the bench and totaled seven points and six rebounds in the loss to PPU.
THE BULLDOGS (2-3): Briarcliffe returns just three players and one starter from last year's team that finished 9-8 overall…head coach Jay Lynch must overcome the loss of USCAA honorable mention All-Americans Shentia Urquart and Sasha SantaMaria…Urquart averaged a team-high 16.1 points with a team-high 32 three-pointers last year, while SantaMaria averaged a double-double (10.7 ppg, 12.1 rpg)…Briarcliffe is ranked 15th in the latest USCAA Division I poll…the Bulldogs are playing their first game since suffering a 78-54 loss at Penn State Brandywine on Dec. 12…the Bulldogs are averaging 68.6 points per game and 9.0 three-pointers per game…sophomore Kiara Johnson (23.6 ppg, 12 3pt fgs) and newcomers Shemique Hooks (13.4 ppg, 9.6 rpg), Judy Pierre (11.6 ppg, 12 3pt fgs) and Kaitlin Mitchell (9.8 ppg, 12 3pt fgs) have paced the Bulldogs this season…Johnson leads the USCAA in scoring average and also leads the team in assists (5.4 apg) and steals (14)…she scored a season-high 29 points in a 56-54 loss to Maine-Augusta.
RECORD-BREAKING SEASON FOR STILWELL: Raeann Stilwell set the school-record for three-pointers made (77) and attempted (252) in a season last winter…she also became the first Daemen player to record back-to-back seasons with 60 or more three-pointers since Jessica Ruddell turned the trick in 2003-04 and 2004-05…she already ranks fourth in career three-point field goals made (152) among Daemen's all-time leaders…Ruddell owns the school-record for career three-pointers made (242).
BLOCK PARTY: Natalie Galus led the ECC in blocks (62) last year and became the first Daemen freshman to record 50 or more blocks in a season since Sarah Sokora registered 100 blocks as a freshman in 2007-08…Galus had a streak of 22-straight games with at least one blocked shot snapped during the win over Goucher two weeks ago.
WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen returns to action Saturday (Jan. 3) when it travels to the University of the District of Columbia for an ECC game…the Wildcats will then play at Washington Adventist University on Monday (Jan. 5)…Daemen's complete 2014-15 schedule can be accessed HERE.
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.
