Friday, Feb. 21, 2014 - 6 p.m.
Lumsdem Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
Live Stats / Live Video

Bridgeport vs. Daemen
Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014 - 2 p.m.
Lumsdem Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
Live Stats / Live Video

THE MATCHUPS: The Daemen College women's basketball team closes out the 2013-14 regular-season by hosting Dowling College (Feb. 21) and the University of Bridgeport (Feb. 22) in East Coast Conference games this weekend.

SALUTE TO THE SENIOR: Saturday's game will mark the final home game for senior Lindsay Stoddard…her contributions to the program over the past four years will be recognized in a pre-game ceremony. 

THE COACHES: David Skolen is entering his 22nd season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen and has posted a 443-235 (.654) 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 second all-time meeting between Daemen and Dowling…the Golden Lions posted a 68-44 victory over the Wildcats earlier this year at Dowling…the hosts built a 37-19 halftime lead and maintained a double-digit lead the entire second half…Julia Koppl led the way with 22 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks…Raeann Stilwell paced the Wildcats with 17 points.

THE SERIES vs. BRIDGEPORT: Saturday's game will mark the second all-time meeting between Daemen and Bridgeport…the Purple Knights posted a 73-59 victory over the Wildcats earlier this year at Bridgeport…the Purple Knights held a three-point lead (32-29) at the half and the hosts took control with a 14-0 run over the first 4:14 of the second half…Jenna Hoffman scored 14 points off the bench for UB, while Shannon Holt added 13 points and eight rebounds…Raeann Stilwell (17 pts) and Lindsay Stoddard (14 pts, 13 rebs, 5 asts) paced the Wildcats.

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.

USCAA TOURNAMENT: Eight teams will be selected to participate in the USCAA Championship Tournament, which will take place March 5-8 in Uniontown, Pa…selections will be announced Feb. 25…Daemen claimed the USCAA Tournament championship last winter.

THE WILDCATS (7-17, 4-14 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 posted back-to-back wins over STAC (88-78) and Mercy (73-66) last month and is 3-5 over its last eight games…the Wildcats completed the season-series sweep of Molloy with an 80-59 victory over the Lions two weeks ago, before suffering losses to Queens (80-44) and UDC (91-73)…senior guard Lindsay Stoddard is the only returning starter on a roster that includes six freshmen and four sophomores…Stoddard scored a career-high 26 points and also grabbed 11 rebounds in the loss to UDC last week and is averaging 14.4 points, 8.8 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.5 steals…she leads the ECC in assists per game (6.1) and ranks second in double-doubles (9)…sophomore Raeann Stilwell has scored in double figures in 22 of 24 games and is averaging 16.9 points with a team-high 69 three-pointers…she scored 22 points (her ninth 20-point effort of the season) during Daemen's win over Molloy two weeks ago…junior Jillian Fitzner shot 75-percent (9-for-12) from the field and totaled 18 points and 13 rebounds during losses to LIU Post and NYIT three weeks ago…sophomore Samantha Wozniak played a career-high 26 minutes and scored a career-high 13 points in the loss to Queens two weeks ago…Somara Colon contributed a career-high 11 points in a non-league win over Dominican…Daemen's freshman class includes All-Western New York selections Natalie Galus (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier), Taylor Heinold (Hamburg, N.Y./Immaculata), Leah McDonell (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Cardinal O'Hara) and Rachel Pawlak (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Niagara-Wheatfield)…Galus had a season-high 20 points in the win over STAC and is averaging 11.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.4 blocks…Heinold was named ECC Rookie of the Week after totaling 23 points, six rebounds and four assists in a loss to Molloy…she is averaging 9.3 points and 6.8 rebounds…McDonell scored a season-high 21 points in a loss at Queens and is averaging 6.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals…Pawlak drilled two three-pointers and scored a season-high 12 points in 16 minutes off the bench in the recent win over Molloy.

THE GOLDEN LIONS (9-13, 8-9 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…the Golden Lions have lost three-straight games and are 3-5 over their last eight games…DC suffered losses to NYIT (82-77) and LIU Post (61-51) last week and is coming off a 56-51 loss to Queens this past Monday…junior guard Christine Verrelle drilled four three-pointers and totaled 16 points in the loss to NYIT last week and is averaging 11.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals…senior forward Julia Koppl totaled 25 points in a recent 97-65 win over Mercy and is averaging 11.1 points and a team-high 9.3 rebounds…additional production has come from sophomore guard Krstina Surlan (9.0 ppt, 4.5 rpg) and senior forward Rekik Worku (9.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg).

THE PURPLE KNIGHTS (6-17, 4-13 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…the Purple Knights have lost three-straight games and are 1-7 over their last eight games…UB suffered losses to UDC (87-59), LIU Post (83-72) and NYIT (85-63) last week…the Purple Knights play at Roberts Wesleyan Friday (Feb. 21) before facing Daemen Saturday…junior college transfer Tiara Aziz totaled 18 points and seven rebounds in the loss to NYIT last weekend and is averaging a team-high 12.6 points…junior guard Jennifer Kucukkaya scored 22 points in the loss to LIU Post last weekend and is averaging 10.2 points with a team-high 35 three-pointers…senior guard Aziza Patterson (10.2 ppg, 27 3pt fgs), junior guard Jenna Hoffman (7.0 ppg, 23 3pt fgs) and and 6-foot-3 center Shannon Holt (6.9 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 40 blks) have also produced.

ECC RANKINGS: Here is how the teams rank among ECC teams in selected statistical categories.

LEAGUE LEADERS: Here is how players from the three teams rank among the ECC leaders…Lindsay Stoddard leads the league in assists per game (6.1) and also ranks second in minutes per game (35.4) and double-doubles (9), fourth in rebounding (8.8), sixth in free throw percentage (79.8), eighth in scoring (14.4), 12th in three-point field goals (32) and 11th in steals (1.5)…Raeann Stilwell ranks fourth in points per game (16.9), second in three-point field goals made (69), fifth in minutes (33.0) and eighth in assists (2.8)…Natalie Galus ranks first in blocks per game (2.4), ninth in field goal percentage (44.4), 13th in rebounding (7.1) and 21st in scoring (11.2)…Taylor Heinold ranks 16th in rebounds per game (6.8) and eighth in free throw percentage (76.4)…Christine Verrelle of Dowling ranks first in minutes (35.4), third in free throw percentage (85.5), fifth in assists (3.5), 11th in steals (1.5), 12th in field goal percentage (43.6), 18th in rebounding (6.1) and 19th in scoring (11.9)…Julia Koppl of Dowling ranks third in rebounding (9.3), 11th in blocks (1.1) and 22nd in scoring (11.1)…Kamille Ejerta of Dowling ranks first in three-point field goal percentage (41.7) and 16th in three-pointers made (30)…Tiara Aziz of Bridgeport ranks ninth in free throw percentage (76.1), 14th in scoring (12.6) and 16th in field goal percentage (41.2)…also from Bridgeport, Aziza Patterson of Bridgeport ranks 11th in steals (1.5), Shannon Holt ranks second in blocks (2.1) and 17th in rebounding (6.4) and Jennifer Kucukkaya ranks 11th in three-pointers (35).

STODDARD CLOSE TO MILESTONES: Lindsay Stoddard recently recorded her 450th career assist and enters this weekend's action ranked fifth in career assists (466) among Daemen's all-time leaders…she stands just eight assists shy of moving past Dana Forti and into fourth place in career assists…she has totaled 325 of her 466 career assists over the past two seasons…Stoddard also stands 28 points shy of 900 career points, eight rebounds shy of 500 career rebounds and three steals shy of 150 career steals.

STILWELL ON RECORD PACE: Raeann Stilwell is seven three-pointers shy of breaking the school-record for three-pointers in a season (75) set by Angela Tylec in 2002-03…she has set a new school-record for three-pointers attempted in a season (233), eclipsing the previous mark of (226) set by Jessica Ruddell in 2003-04…Stilwell led the team in three-pointers last year (60) and has totaled a team-high 69 triples this season…she has become 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 (125) among Daemen's all-time leaders.

BLOCK PARTY: Natalie Galus leads the ECC in blocks (58) and has become 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 one block in 15-straight games and 22 of 24 games overall.

DID YOU KNOW? Lindsay Stoddard has recorded five or more rebounds in 21 of Daemen's 24 games and has registered double-digit rebounds in nine of the last 16 games…she ranks fourth overall (first among guards) among the ECC rebounding leaders (8.8 per game).

WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen is hoping to earn a bid to the upcoming USCAA Tournament, which will take place March 5-8 in Uniontown, Pa…Daemen is the defending tournament champion.

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.