THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's basketball team begins a stretch of three-straight home games when it hosts long-time rival Roberts Wesleyan College in an East Coast Conference game Tuesday (Jan. 20)…Daemen enters the game having won six of its last eight games, while RWC is riding a five-game winning streak.
Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015
Roberts Wesleyan at Daemen - 6 p.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO / DAEMEN ROSTER / DAEMEN STATS / RWC ROSTER / RWC STATS
THE COACHES: David Skolen is in his 23rd season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen and has posted a 451-242 (.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…Bob Segave is in his ninth season as head women's basketball coach at Roberts Wesleyan…he entered the 2014-15 season with a career record of 134-101 (.570), including a trip to the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) national championship game in 2011 and NCCAA Final Four in 2008.
SKOLEN NOTCHES 450TH CAREER WIN: Daemen's 75-65 victory over the University of Bridgeport on Jan. 10 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) in July of 2012 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: Tuesday's game will mark the 56th all-time meeting between the two former American Mideast Conference (AMC) rivals…Daemen has prevailed in 12 of the last 17 meetings and owns a 38-17 advantage in the all-time series…RWC swept the season series last year…the Redhawks posted a 79-69 victory at RWC…it marked the first-ever ECC game for Daemen…Samantha Courtney led the way with 22 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks…Natalie Galus drilled four three-pointers and totaled 16 points and nine rebounds for Daemen…Lindsay Stoddard stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, nine rebounds, five assists and five steals…RWC completed the sweep following a 76-61 win at Lumsden Gym…the Redhawks held a 33-24 lead at the half and opened the second half with a 17-10 run that gave the visitors a 50-34 lead five minutes into the second half…RWC maintained a double digit lead the rest of the half…Marrisa Sell totaled 26 points and 15 rebounds for RWC…Raeann Stilwell drilled four three-pointers and scored 23 points for Daemen.
THE WILDCATS (7-6; 4-3 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 six of their last eight contests…Daemen is coming off a weekend split at St. Thomas Aquinas and Mercy, losing to STAC (70-57) and defeating Mercy (70-64)…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 scored 16 points in the loss to STAC and leads the team in scoring (13.6 ppg) and three-pointers (35)…Galus, Heinold and McDonell each started all 26 games as rookies…Galus scored a season-high 18 points in the win over Mercy and is averaging 9.6 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds…Heinold has missed nine games due to injury and scored a season-high 15 points in 17 minutes off the bench during a 101-83 win over Briarcliffe…McDonell scored 12 points in the win over Mercy and is averaging 7.5 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 12 points and 15 rebounds in the win over Mercy and is averaging 13.1 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds with a league-high 42 blocks…Saba has scored in double figures 10 times and is averaging 11.6 points and 6.5 rebounds, while Miles is averaging 13 minutes off the bench.
THE REDHAWKS (10-3; 5-2 ECC): Roberts Wesleyan successfully completed its transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II this past summer and is in its first season as an official NCAA Division II member school…the Redhawks return 11 players and three starters from last year's team that finished 15-14 overall and 10-10 in the ECC…RWC was voted fifth in the 2014-15 ECC preseason poll…the Redhawks have won five-straight games and swept a weekend series at Mercy (80-75) and St. Thomas Aquinas (92-62) this past weekend…senior forward Marrisa Sell tops the list of returning players…a two-time All-ECC selection, she totaled 18 points in the win over STAC and is averaging a team-high 15.5 points and a league-high 11.9 rebounds per game…freshman Lucy Covley is a two-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection…she went 5-for-5 from downtown and scored 19 points in the win over Mercy…she has started 12 games and is averaging 13.1 points with a team-high 36 three-pointers…additional production has come from junior forward Samantha Courtney (12.6 ppg, 7.1 rpg) and freshman guard Brooke Fields (7.8 ppg, 18 3pt fgs).
ECC HONOR ROLL: Sarah 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 (172) among Daemen's all-time leaders and is just two three-pointers shy of moving into second place all-time…Ruddell owns the school-record for career three-pointers made (242)…Stilwell has scored 932 points in 72 career games (12.9 ppg).
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 nine times and has recorded four double-doubles on the year…she ranks second on the team in scoring (13.1 ppg) and is tied for the team lead in rebounding (8.0 rpg)…she also leads the team in field goal percentage (.455) and blocks (42)…she has registered five or more blocks four times this year and leads the ECC in rejections (42)…Saba is a two-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection and ranks third on the team in scoring (11.6 ppg), rebounding (6.5 rpg) and blocks (16)…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 third among ECC freshmen in scoring and leads all ECC freshmen in rebounding and blocks.
WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen returns to action this weekend when it hosts LIU Post (Jan. 23) and New York Tech (Jan. 24) in ECC games…Daemen's complete 2014-15 schedule can be accessed HERE.
FOLLOW THE WILDCATS: Follow Daemen College women's basketball on Twitter (@DaemenAthletics and @DaemenWBB) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/daemencollegeathletics) to get live game updates and breaking news throughout the year.
