Friday, Feb. 7, 2014 - 6 p.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
Live Stats / Live Video

Queens vs. Daemen
Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014 - 1 p.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
Live Stats / Live Video

THE MATCHUPS: The Daemen College women's basketball team hosts Molloy (Feb. 7) and Queens (Feb. 9) in East Coast Conference (ECC) action.

THE COACHES: David Skolen is entering his 22nd season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen and has posted a 442-233 (.655) 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…Kate Lynch is in her first season as head women's basketball coach at Molloy…she spent the past three seasons as head women's basketball coach at Community College of Rhode Island and was named NJCAA National Coach of the Year last winter…she played four seasons at Southern Connecticut State University and helped the Owls to a NCAA Division II national title in 2007…Bet Naumovski is in her third season as head women's basketball coach at Queens…the 2012-13 ECC Coach of the Year, she has guided the Knights to a 12-40 (.231) record over the past two seasons…he previously spent two seasons as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Binghamton University.

THE SERIES vs. MOLLOY: Friday's game will mark the second all-time meeting between Daemen and Molloy…the Wildcats rallied for an 88-86 OT win at Molloy earlier this year in the first-ever meeting…Daemen used a barrage of three-pointers and rallied from a 24-point second-half deficit en route to the win—Daemen's first-ever ECC victory…Daemen set school-records for three-pointers made (16) and attempted (47) in the game…Raeann Stilwell led the charge, as she canned 8-of-20 from downtown and finished with 26 points…she tied the school-record for three-pointers made and attempted in a game…freshman Taylor Heinold made several clutch free throws down the stretch and finished with a career-high 23 points, while Lindsay Stoddard added 19 points, 11 rebounds and six assists…Allison Smith and Megan Lonergan both scored 15 points for Molloy, while Nicole Arnone added 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

THE SERIES vs. QUEENS: Sunday's game will mark the second all-time meeting between Daemen and Queens…the Knights posted a 95-86 OT win over the Wildcats in the first-ever meeting earlier this year at Queens…Daemen forced OT after Leah McDonell canned two free throws with 12 seconds left in regulation, but Queens outscored the Wildcats 10-2 at the start of OT to secure the win…freshman Madison Rowland connected on 13-of-18 shots and netted 33 points for Queens, while her sister MacKenzie added 25 points…McDonell scored a season-high 21 points for Daemen, while Raeann Stilwell also scored 21 points.

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 (6-15, 3-12 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 snapped a three-game losing streak following a non-league win at Dominican (83-64) on Jan. 7 and is 3-6 over its last nine games…the Wildcats are coming off losses to Roberts Wesleyan (76-61), LIU Post (97-66) and NYIT (81-73) last week…senior guard Lindsay Stoddard is the only returning starter on a roster that includes six freshmen and four sophomores…Stoddard scored a season-high 24 points and also grabbed eight rebounds in the loss to NYIT last weekend and is averaging 14.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.5 steals…sophomore Raeann Stilwell has scored in double figures in 17-straight games and has averaged 20.6 points over the past 13 games…she is averaging 17.5 points with a league-high 63 three-pointers…junior Jillian Fitzner shot 75-percent (9-for-12) from the field and totaled 18 points and 13 rebounds during the losses to LIU Post and NYIT last weekend…Somara Colon contributed a career-high 11 points in the win over Dominican…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 had a season-high 20 points in a win over STAC and is averaging 11.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.5 blocks…Heinold was named ECC Rookie of the Week after totaling 23 points, six rebounds and four assists in a recent win over Molloy…she is averaging 9.7 points and 7.1 rebounds…McDonell scored a season-high 21 points in the loss to Queens and is averaging 6.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals.

HOME COOKING: After playing 14 of their first 16 games on the road, Daemen will play nine of its final 10 games at home…Daemen went 11-1 at home last year and is 72-13 at Lumsden Gymnasium over the past six seasons.

THE LIONS (10-9, 7-5 ECC): Molloy returns nine players and two starters from last year's team that finished 10-16 (6-12 ECC)…Molloy was voted ninth in the ECC preseason poll…the Lions won six of their first eight games, but are just 4-7 over their last 11…Molloy snapped a four-game losing streak following a 91-74 victory over Bridgeport last week…the Lions are coming off a 69-64 victory over Dowling last weekend…senior Kelly Guerriero drilled six three-pointers and totaled 20 points in the win over Bridgeport last week and is averaging 13.6 points with a team-high 61 three-pointers…junior G/F Nicole Arnone had 16 points and 16 rebounds in a recent win over Mercy and is averaging 10.4 points and a team-high 8.3 rebounds…additional production has come from sophomore Alexia O'Connor (8.4 ppg, 30 3pt fgs) and junior college transfer Sabrina Padro (7.2 ppg, 3.0 apg)…O'Connor scored 14 points in just 18 minutes in the win over Bridgeport last week.

THE KNIGHTS (13-5, 9-3 ECC): Queens returns seven players and three starters from last year's team that finished 11-15 (8-10 ECC)…Queens was voted fourth in the ECC preseason poll…the Knights won 11 of their first 14 games and are 2-2 over their last four…Queens posted wins over Molloy (69-57) and Bridgeport (93-70) last week…the Knights play at Roberts Wesleyan Friday before taking on Daemen Sunday…freshman G/F Madison Rowland and her redshirt freshman sister MacKenzie have led the way thus far…Madison has been named ECC Player of the Week twice and Rookie of the Week five times…she is averaging a league-high 21.2 points and is also contributing 7.6 rebounds and 4.9 steals per game…she totaled a triple double (40 pts, 13 rebs, 11 stls) in the win over Bridgeport last week…MacKenzie is averaging 14.9 points and leads the team in rebounding (8.3 rpg) and blocks (25)…she had 26 points and 12 rebounds in a recent win over Mercy…sophomore guard Kristen Korzevinski (10.2 ppg), an ECC All-Rookie Team selection last year, has returned to the lineup after missing 10 games…additional production has come from sophomore guard Joya McFarland (6.8 ppg, 2.4 apg) and graduate student Melissa Gardner (6.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg).

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

Note: Rankings do not include games played 2/6/14

LEAGUE LEADERS (Not including games played 2/6/14): Here is how players from the three teams rank among the ECC leaders…Lindsay Stoddard leads the league in assists per game (6.0) and also ranks third in minutes per game (35.2), seventh in rebounding (8.2), eighth in both scoring (14.3) and three-point field goal percentage (35.4), ninth in free throw percentage (76.1) and 10th in three-point field goals (28)…Raeann Stilwell ranks fourth in points per game (17.5), first in three-point field goals made (63), sixth in minutes (33.4) and ninth in assists (2.9)…Natalie Galus ranks first in blocks per game (2.5), 11th in field goal percentage (44.4) and 14th in rebounding (7.1)…Taylor Heinold ranks 14th in rebounds per game (7.1) and eighth in free throw percentage (76.5)…Kelly Guerriero of Molloy ranks 10th in both points per game (13.6) and minutes (32.2), second in three-pointers made (61) and third in three-point field goal percentage (37.7)…also from Molloy, Alexia O'Connor ranks ninth in three-pointers (30) and 12th in three-point field goal percentage (33.0), Nicole Arnone ranks fifth in rebounding (8.3), Sabrino Padro ranks eighth in assists (3.0) and Allison Smith ranks sixth in blocks (1.4)…Madison Rowland of Queens leads the league in scoring (21.2) and steals (4.9), ranks fourth in field goal percentage (47.6), ninth in minutes (32.4) and 10th in rebounding (7.6)…her sister MacKenzie Rowland ranks fifth in both scoring (14.9) and rebounding (8.3), third in field goal percentage (47.9) and sixth in blocks (1.4).

DID YOU KNOW? Raeann Stilwell led the team in three-pointers last year (60) and has totaled a league-best 63 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…Lindsay Stoddard recently recorded her 400th career assist and enters this weekend's action ranked sixth in career assists (446) among Daemen's all-time leaders…Stoddard has recorded five or more rebounds in 16 of Daemen's 21 games and has registered double-digit rebounds in five of the last 10 games…she ranks seventh among the ECC rebounding leaders (8.2 per game)…Natalie Galus leads the ECC in blocks (53) 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.

WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen returns to action Friday (Feb. 14) when it travels to the University of the District of Columbia for an ECC game at 7 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.