THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's basketball team closes out its stretch of three-straight home games when it hosts LIU Post (Jan. 23) and New York Tech (Jan. 24) in East Coast Conference games this weekend…all three teams rank among the top six teams in the ECC standings…Daemen has won seven of its last nine games and has already equaled the number of total wins (8) and conference wins (5) it posted last year.
Friday, Jan. 23, 2015
LIU Post at Daemen - 6 p.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO / DAEMEN ROSTER / DAEMEN STATS / LIUP ROSTER / LIUP STATS
Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015
New York Tech at Daemen - 2 p.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO / NYIT ROSTER / NYIT STATS
THE COACHES: David Skolen is in his 23rd season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen and has posted a 452-242 (.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…Deirdre Moore is in her seventh season as head women's basketball coach at LIU Post…she entered the 2014-15 season with a career-record of 114-63 record (.644) and has led the Pioneers to four NCAA Division II Tournament appearances (2011, 12, 13, 14)…Anthony Crocitto is in his sixth season as head women's basketball coach at New York Tech…over the past five seasons he has led the Bears to a 69-70 (.496) record…he guided the Bears to a school-record 23 wins and their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament in 2013.
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 vs. LIU POST: Friday's game will mark the third all-time meeting between Daemen and LIU Post…LIUP swept the season series last winter…the teams met for the first time ever on Long Island and the Pioneers posted a 75-56 victory…LIUP held a 40-33 lead at the half and took control by outscoring the Wildcats 20-4 over the first six minutes of the second half…Chelsea Williams led a balanced attack with 19 points…Natalie Galus had 18 points, seven rebounds and four blocks for Daemen…the Pioneers completed the sweep with a 97-66 win at Lumsden Gym…Shayna Gatling led the way with 25 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and four steals…Lindsay Stoddard paced the Wildcats with 17 points.
THE SERIES vs. NEW YORK TECH: Saturday's game will mark the third all-time meeting between Daemen and New York Tech…NYIT swept the season series last winter…the teams met for the first time ever at NYIT and the Bears posted a 79-62 victory…NYIT held a 10-point lead at the half and outscored the Wildcats 23-9 over the first nine minutes of the second half…Shannon Duer led the Bears with 18 points and 14 rebounds…Natalie Galus registered 17 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for the Wildcats…the Bears completed the sweep with an 81-73 win at Lumsden Gym…Alex Venuto (17 pts) and Duer (14 pts, 11 rebs) led the Bears…Lindsay Stoddard totaled 24 points, eight rebounds and four assists for Daemen.
THE WILDCATS (8-6; 5-3 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 seven of their last nine contests…Daemen is coming off a come-from-behind 70-69 victory over rival Roberts Wesleyan Tuesday at Lumsden Gym…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 a loss to St. Thomas Aquinas last weekend and leads the team in scoring (13.6 ppg), assists (3.1 apg), steals (22) and three-pointers (37)…Galus, Heinold and McDonell each started all 26 games as rookies…Galus scored a season-high 18 points in a win Mercy last weekend and is averaging 9.8 points and 7.5 rebounds…Heinold has missed 10 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 totaled 11 points and five assists in the win over RWC and is averaging 7.8 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 18 points and 11 rebounds in the win over RWC and is averaging 13.4 points and a team-high 8.2 rebounds with a league-high 43 blocks…Saba has scored in double figures 11 times and is averaging 11.8 points and 6.5 rebounds, while Miles is averaging 13 minutes off the bench.
THE PIONEERS (10-6; 6-2 ECC): LIU Post returns just five players and one starter from last year's team that finished 24-7 overall, claimed the ECC regular-season title (18-2) and advanced to the regional championship game of the NCAA Division II Tournament…LIUP was voted second in the 2014-15 ECC preseason poll…the Pioneers have won five of their last six games…LIUP handed New York Tech its first league loss Tuesday night following a 70-63 OT win over the Bears…senior guard Chelsea Williams tops the list of returning players…she was named the 2013-14 ECC Player of the Year and the 2014-15 ECC Preseason Player of the Year…she has scored 20 or more points 10 times and scored a season-high 32 points in an early-season win over Bridgeport…she ranks second among the ECC scoring leaders (20.6 ppg) and leads the team in three-pointers (32), assists (3.2 apg) and steals (30)…junior center Nyasia Davis is averaging 12.5 points and a team-high 10.1 rebounds, while senior transfer Ashley Castle is contributing 10.3 points with 23 three-pointers…Davis had 14 points and 16 rebounds in the win over NYIT…Castle, who averaged 11.5 points and 3.7 assists at Bowie State last year, scored a team-high 21 points off the bench against NYIT…additional production has come from junior Quanisha Ratley (8.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 20 stls).
THE BEARS (12-3; 7-1 ECC): New York Tech returns 10 players and two starters from last year's team that finished 18-10 (13-7 ECC) and advanced to the semifinals of the ECC Tournament…NYIT was voted fourth in the 2014-15 ECC preseason poll…the Bears are ranked fifth in the latest D2SIDA East Region poll and are receiving votes in the latest USA TODAY/WBCA Division II national poll…NYIT plays at Roberts Wesleyan Friday before taking on Daemen Saturday…the Bears had a four-game winning streak snapped and suffered their first conference loss of the season following a 70-63 OT loss to LIU Post Tuesday…junior G/F Dina Ragab was a first-team All-ECC pick last year…she had 32 points and 10 rebounds in a 71-67 victory over Molloy last weekend and ranks second on the team in scoring (14.8 ppg) and rebounding (8.3 rpg)…she leads the team in assists (3.5 apg) and blocks (21)…newcomer Shanice Allen netted 30 points in a 77-56 win over Dowling and is averaging a team-high 17.0 points with 24 three-pointers…additional production has come from sophomores Shannon Duer (9.6 ppg, 9.6 rpg) and Julie Williams (8.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 24 3pt fgs, 30 stls)…Williams had four three-pointers and 14 points in the win over Molloy last weekend.
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…her two three-pointers on Tuesday night moved her into second place in career three-pointers at Daemen (174)…Ruddell owns the school-record for career three-pointers made (242)…Stilwell has scored 945 points in 73 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 10 times and has recorded five double-doubles on the year…she ranks second on the team in scoring (13.4 ppg) and leads the team in rebounding (8.2 rpg), field goal percentage (.451) and blocks (43)…she has registered five or more blocks four times this year and leads the ECC in rejections (43)…Saba is a two-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection and ranks third on the team in scoring (11.8 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 is idle until next weekend when it travels to Molloy College (Jan. 30) and Queens College (Jan. 31) for 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.
