THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's basketball team hosts long-time rival Point Park University in its 2014-15 home-opener Saturday (Dec. 6) at 2 p.m…the teams are former American Mideast Conference rivals.
Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014
Point Park at Daemen - 2 p.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO
THE COACHES: David Skolen is entering his 23rd season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen and has posted a 444-237 (.652) 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…Tony Grenek is in his fourth season as head women's basketball coach at Point Park and entered the 2014-15 season with a record of 77-19 (.802) over the past three three seasons…he has led the Pioneers to three conference championships (1 AMC & 2 KIAC) and three NAIA Division II Tournament appearances…he came to PPU after five seasons as an assistant at NCAA Division II Seton Hill University.
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 HISTORY: Saturday's game will mark the 46th all-time meeting between the former American Mideast Conference (AMC) rivals…the teams have met six times over the past three seasons and Point Park has prevailed in four of those meetings…Daemen owns a 30-15 advantage in the all-time series…the teams met just once last year and the Pioneers posted a 77-62 victory at PPU…Sam Weir led the hosts with 21 points, 20 rebounds and four blocks…Lindsay Stoddard netted 19 points for Daemen…the teams met twice during the 2012-13 season…the Wildcats posted a 74-60 win at Lumsden Gymnasium…Monica Kosior (16 pts) and Ellie Allen (14 pts) led the way for Daemen, while Ja'Nia McPhatter totaled 17 points and eight rebounds for the Pioneers…Point Park answered with a 54-52 victory in Pennsylvania…April Austin hit a three-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining to erase a one-point deficit and deliver the victory…Kosior totaled a double-double (14 pts, 13 rebs) for Daemen, while McPhatter (21 pts, 15 rebs) did the same for the Pioneers…the teams met three times during their last season in the AMC (2011-12)…the teams split their two regular-season meetings, before Point Park posted a 60-48 victory in the AMC Tournament championship game.
THE WILDCATS (0-1): 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)…the Wildcats are playing their first game since opening the 2014-15 season with a 79-65 loss at Holy Family University two weeks ago…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 16 points and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds in the loss to HFU…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…Heinold averaged 9.2 points and 6.7 rebounds, while McDonell averaged 6.0 points and 4.9 rebounds…senior Shy Britton and freshmen Sarah Saba and Liz Miles are expected to make 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 scored over 1,000 points during her career at Greece Arcadia High School and was named first team Class A all-state as a senior…Britton totaled 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in her Daemen debut against HFU…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 scored 10 points in 22 minutes off the bench against Holy Family…Miles played at state powerhouse Cicero-North Syracuse and helped the Northstars to three NYSPHSAA regional titles and one (2012) state championship…she was named to the state tournament all-tournament team last winter after leading the Northstars to an appearance in the Class AA state championship game…she also collected All-Central New York and first-team all-league honors as a senior.
THE PIONEERS (6-1): Point Park is located in Pittsburgh, Pa. and is a member of the NAIA Division II Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC)…the Pioneers return four starters from last year's team that posted a school-record 29 wins (29-5 overall; 14-4 KIAC), claimed the KIAC regular-season and tournament championship and advanced to the NAIA Division II Tournament…PPU was voted first in the 2014-15 KIAC North Division preseason poll and is currently ranked 24th nationally in the latest NAIA Division II poll…PPU erupted for 122 points in a 122-93 win over Concordia (Mich.) University on Nov. 8 and enters Saturday's game averaging 85.3 points per game…the Pioneers opened the year with four-straight wins before suffering an 81-69 loss at NCAA Division II Davis & Elkins…the Pioneers are coming off back-to-back wins over Washington Adventist (65-42, 70-41)…sophomore center Sam Weir tops the list of returning players…she collected first-team All-KIAC honors last year after leading the team in scoring (14.4 ppg), rebounding (9.1 rpg) and blocks (99)…she netted 26 points in a season-opening 87-72 win over West Virginia Tech and is averaging 18.6 points and 8.6 rebounds this season…junior forward Ja'Nia McPhatter also returns after sitting out all of last season due to injury…she earned first-team All-KIAC honors after averaging a team-high 15.9 points and 8.8 rebounds in 2012-13…she totaled 17 points and seven rebounds in the win over Concordia and is averaging 8.9 points with a team-high 10 three-pointers…senior guard Kayla Kiriau and junior guard Alexa Xenakis also return…Kirlau averaged 9.0 points and led the team in assists (121) and steals (64) last year, while Xanakis drained a team-high 50 three-pointers and averaged 9.9 points…sophomore forward Carly Forse is coming off a solid rookie season in which she started all 34 games and averaged 10.5 points and 8.0 rebounds…newcomer Kelly Johnson has made an immediate impact…a transfer from NCAA Division II Clarion University, she totaled 31 points and eight assists in a 110-107 (2OT) win over NCAA Division II Pitt-Johnstown and is averaging 15.0 points and 4.9 assists per game.
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 eighth in career three-point field goals made (139) among Daemen's all-time leaders.
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 has recorded at least on block in 18-straight games dating back to last season.
WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen is idle until Dec. 12 when it opens East Coast Conference play by hosting Molloy College…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.
