THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's basketball team hits the road this weekend to take on St. Thomas Aquinas College (Jan. 16) and Mercy College (Jan. 17) in East Coast Conference action…Daemen enters the weekend riding a three-game winning streak, its longest since the 2012-13 season.
Friday, Jan. 16, 2015
Daemen at St. Thomas Aquinas - 6 p.m.
Aquinas Hall, Sparkill, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO / DAEMEN ROSTER / DAEMEN STATS / STAC ROSTER / STAC STATS
Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015
Daemen at Mercy - 12:30 p.m.
Mercy Gym, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO / MC ROSTER / MC STATS
THE COACHES: David Skolen is in his 23rd season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen and has posted a 450-241 (.651) 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…Kim Lusk is in her seventh season as head women's basketball coach at St. Thomas Aquinas…she has guided the Spartans to a 86-82 (.512) record over the past six seasons and was named ECC Coach of the Year following the 2010-11 season…she previously spent five season (2002-07) as head coach at New Jersey Institute of Technology…Rashidi Aiken is in his third season as head women's basketball coach at Mercy…he previously served as assistant head coach at Nyack College.
SKOLEN NOTCHES 450TH CAREER WIN: Saturday's victory over the University of Bridgeport marked the 450th career win for Daemen head coach David Skolen.
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 SERIES vs. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: Friday's game will mark the fourth all-time meeting between Daemen and St. Thomas Aquinas…the Spartans own a 2-1 advantage in the series…the teams split their two meetings last year…the Spartans posted a 72-54 win at STAC…STAC held a five-point lead three minutes into the second half and outscored the Wildcats 24-8 over the next 10 minutes to secure the win…Kristen Olsen (14 pts, 4 3pt fgs) and Samantha Burden (14 pts, 5 asts) paced the Spartans…Raeann Stilwell scored a game-high 15 points for Daemen, while Natalie Galus totaled 11 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks…Daemen answered with an 88-78 win at Lumsden Gym…Daemen held a 60-58 lead midway through the second half when the hosts took control with a 13-2 run…Stilwell (22 pts, 7 asts) and Galus (20 pts) led the way once again for the Wildcats, while Briana Cook scored 18 points for STAC.
THE SERIES vs. MERCY: Saturday's game will mark the third all-time meeting between Daemen and Mercy…the teams split their two meetings last year…the Mavericks scored five unanswered points over the final 17 seconds of the game to earn a wild 93-91 victory at Mercy in the first ever meeting…six players scored in double figures for Mercy, led by Maggie Salomone (18 pts, 4 asts) and Alexis Monserrate (14 pts, 4 3pt fgs)…Lindsay Stoddard record a triple-double for the Wildcats (18 pts, 12 rebs, 10 asts) and Raeann Stilwell drained six three-pointers and finished with 36 points…Daemen earned the split with a 73-66 win at Lumsden Gym…Stilwell drilled five three-pointers and totaled 25 points, while Natalie Galus added 14 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks…Salomone scored 20 points for Mercy.
THE WILDCATS (6-5; 3-2 ECC): 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…the Wildcats have won three-straight games and five of their last six contests…Daemen is coming off league wins over Dowling (CCC) and Bridgeport (CCC) last weekend…junior Raeann Stilwell and sophomores Natalie Galus, Taylor Heinold and Leah McDonell top the list of returning players…Stilwell averaged a team-high 17.0 points with a school-record 77 three-pointers last year…she drained 7-of-10 three-pointers and scored 23 points in a recent 101-83 win over Briarclifffe and leads the team in scoring (13.9 ppg) and three-pointers (30)…Galus, Heinold and McDonell each started all 26 games as rookies…Galus totaled 15 points and seven rebounds in the win over Bridgeport and is averaging 9.1 points and a team-high 8.1 rebounds…Heinold has missed seven games due to injury and scored a season-high 15 points in 17 minutes off the bench against Briarcliffe…McDonell scored a season-high 13 points in a 65-53 win over Goucher and is averaging 7.2 points…transfer 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 16 points, eight rebounds and five blocks in the win over Bridgeport and is averaging 13.2 points and 7.7 rebounds with a league-high 38 blocks…Saba has scored in double figures nine times and is averaging 12.5 points and 6.9 rebounds, while Miles is averaging 12 minutes off the bench.
THE SPARTANS (6-9; 2-4 ECC): St. Thomas Aquinas returns 10 players and all five starters from last year's team that finished 12-13 overall and 8-12 in the ECC…STAC was voted seventh in the 2014-15 ECC preseason poll…the Spartans have lost six of their last seven games and are coming off a 71-57 loss at LIU Post last weekend…freshman guard Jenna Erickson and junior forward Alyson Brennan have paced the Spartans thus far…Erickson is a four-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection and leads the team in scoring (12.7 ppg), assists (3.2 apg) and three-pointers (32)…she had five three-pointers and a season-high 25 points in a 93-90 loss to NYIT last week…Brennan is averaging 9.7 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds…she had 20 points and 12 rebounds in the loss to NYIT…additional production has come from sophomore forward Kaitlyn McCue (8.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg), sophomore guard Samantha Burden (6.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 20 stls) and sophomore guard Kristen Olsen (5.8 ppg, 13 3pt fgs)…McCue had 18 points and 11 rebounds in a recent 64-61 loss to Pace.
THE MAVERICKS (7-6; 1-5 ECC): Mercy returns just two players and one starter from last year's team that finished 2-24 overall and 1-19 in the ECC…Mercy was voted 11th in the 2014-15 ECC preseason poll…the Mavericks won seven of their first nine games, but enter the weekend riding a four-game losing streak…Mercy is coming off an 83-64 loss at New York Tech…Mercy plays at Roberts Wesleyan Friday before facing Daemen Saturday…seniors Tanaysha Augustine and Brandone Roberts have led the way…Augustine, the lone returning starter from last year, totaled 24 points and 10 rebounds in a 70-68 win over Bridgeport and is averaging 14.9 points and 9.3 rebounds…Roberts, a transfer from Nyack College, had 17 points and 17 rebounds in a 71-65 loss to Dowling and is averaging 11.1 points and 11.0 rebounds with 26 blocks…junior transfers Tatiana Parish (9.8 ppg, 32 3pt fgs), Erin Copeland (9.5 ppg, 5.7 apg) and Deasia Goodson (7.0 ppg, 7.7 rpg) have also produced.
ECC HONOR ROLL: Sara Saba has been honored as the ECC Rookie of the Week twice this season and is also a one-time selection to the weekly ECC honor roll…Shy Britton and Raeann Stilwell are also one-time selections to the weekly ECC honor roll.
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 third in career three-point field goals made (167) among Daemen's all-time leaders and is just seven three-pointers shy of moving into second place all-time…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 on Dec. 18…she stands 18 blocks shy of becoming the ninth player in program history to reach 100 career rejections.
SUDDEN IMPACT: Transfer Shy Britton and freshman Sarah Saba have wasted no time in contributing to the team…Britton has scored in double figures seven times and has recorded three double-doubles on the year…she ranks second on the team in scoring (13.2 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg) and leads the team in field goal percentage (.450) and blocks (38)…she established season-highs for points (21) and rebounds (15) during a 72-60 win over Molloy…she has registered five or more blocks four times this year and leads the ECC in rejections (38)…Saba is a two-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection and ranks third on the team in scoring (12.5 ppg), rebounding (6.9 rpg) and blocks (14)…she has registered three double-doubles on the year and scored a season-high 21 points in an early-season loss to Point Park…she ranks second among ECC freshmen in scoring and blocks and leads all ECC freshmen in rebounding.
WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen returns to action Tuesday (Jan. 20) when it hosts long-time rival Roberts Wesleyan College in an ECC game…it will mark the first of three home games next week, as the Wildcats also host LIU Post (Jan. 23) and New York Tech (Jan. 24) next weekend…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.
