THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's basketball team travels to Molloy College (Jan. 30) and Queens College (Jan. 31) this weekend for East Coast Conference (ECC) games…the Wildcats are currently in sixth place in the ECC standings.
Friday, Jan. 30, 2015
Daemen and Molloy - 5 p.m.
Quealy Gymnasium, Rockville Centre, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO / DAEMEN ROSTER / DAEMEN STATS / MC ROSTER / MC STATS
Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015
Daemen at Queens - 1:30 p.m.
Fitzgerald Gymnasium, Flushing, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / QC ROSTER / QC STATS
THE COACHES: David Skolen is in his 23rd season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen and has posted a 452-244 (.649) 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…Kate Lynch is in her second season as head women's basketball coach at Molloy…prior to Molloy she spent three seasons as head women's basketball coach at Community College of Rhode Island and was named NJCAA National Coach of the Year in 2012-13…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 fourth season as head women's basketball coach at Queens…the 2012-13 ECC Coach of the Year, she guided the Knights to a 20-win season (20-8) for just the second time in the past 30 years last winter…he previously spent two seasons as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Binghamton University.
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. MOLLOY: Friday's game will mark the fourth all-time meeting between Daemen and Molloy…the Wildcats have prevailed in each of the previous three meetings…Daemen posted a 72-60 victory over the Lions earlier this year at Lumsden Gym…Shy Britton led the way with 21 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks…Ally Leftridge paced the Lions with 20 points and 12 boards…the Wildcats swept the season series last winter…Daemen rallied for an 88-86 OT win at Molloy 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…Allison Smith and Megan Lonergan both scored 15 points for Molloy…Daemen completed the sweep with an 80-57 win at Lumsden Gym…Stilwell scored 22 points, while Lindsay Stoddard recorded her second triple double of the season (13 pts, 14 rebs, 10 asts) to lead Daemen…Lonergan paced the Lions with 12 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.
THE SERIES vs. QUEENS: Saturday's game will mark the fourth all-time meeting between Daemen and Queens…Queens has prevailed in each of the previous three meetings…the Knights posted an 82-67 win at Lumsden Gym earlier this year…Madison Rowland poured in 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the hosts, while Raeann Stilwell (22 pts) and Shy Britton (20 pts, 10 rebs, 4 blks) pace the Wildcats…the Knights swept the season series last year…Queens posted a 95-86 OT win over the Wildcats in the first-ever meeting 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…Madison Rowland connected on 13-of-18 shots and netted 33 points for Queens, while her sister MacKenzie added 25 points…McDonell scored a career-high 21 points for Daemen, while Stilwell also scored 21 points…the Knights completed the sweep with an 80-44 win at Lumsden Gym…Kristen Korzevinski scored a career-high 27 points to lead Queens…Samantha Wozniak paced the Wildcats with a career-high 13 points off the bench.
THE WILDCATS (8-8; 5-5 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 five of their last eight contests and have already equaled the total number of overall and conference wins from last year…Daemen is coming off home losses to LIU Post (79-69) and New York Tech (71-67) this past 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 scored 13 points in a 70-69 win over Roberts Wesleyan last week and ranks second on the team in scoring (12.9 ppg)…she leads the team assists (3.1 apg), steals (27) and three-pointers (40)…Galus, Heinold and McDonell each started all 26 games as rookies…Galus scored a season-high 18 points in a recent win at Mercy and is averaging 10.0 points and 7.5 rebounds…Heinold has missed 12 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 has scored in double figures in each of the last four games and scored a season-high 14 points in the loss to NYIT last weekend…she is averaging 8.4 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 21 points in the loss to LIU Post last weekend and leads the team in scoring (13.6 ppg), rebounding (7.9 rpg), blocks (52) and field goal percentage (.469)…Saba has scored in double figures 13 times and is averaging 12.6 points and 6.4 rebounds, while Miles is averaging 12 minutes off the bench.
THE LIONS (7-10; 3-7 ECC): Molloy returns 12 players and four starters from last year's team that finished 14-14 overall (11-9 ECC) and advanced to the ECC Tournament…Molloy was voted sixth in the 2014-15 ECC preseason poll… the Lions snapped a five-game losing streak following a 79-65 win over Bridgeport last weekend and are coming off a 61-58 win over Dowling this past Saturday…juniors Ally Leftridge, Kimani Jackson and Alexia O'Connor have paced the Lions thus far…Leftridge has scored in double figures 13 times and is averaging a team-high 11.8 points…she scored 20 points in the loss to Daemen last month…Jackson scored 20 points in a recent 71-67 loss to NYIT and is averaging 11.2 points off the bench…O'Connor is shooting 43-percent (29-67) from three-point land and is averaging 8.2 points…additional production has come from sophomore Maggie Salomone (6.8 ppg, 26 3pt fgs) and seniors Megan Lonergan (6.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and Nicole Arnone (6.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg).
THE KNIGHTS (14-3; 9-1 ECC): Queens returns six players and four starters from last year's team that finished 20-8 overall (15-5 ECC) and advanced to the semifinals of the ECC Tournament…Queens was voted third in the 2014-15 ECC preseason poll…the Knights have won four-straight games and are coming off a 64-56 win at Bridgeport this past Sunday…Queens is ranked fourth in the latest D2SIDA East Region poll…the Knights host Roberts Wesleyan Friday before taking on Daemen Saturday…sophomore G/F Madison Rowland and her junior F/C sister MacKenzie top the list of returning players…Madison collected first-team all-conference, ECC Rookie of the Year and ECC Defensive Player of the Year honors last winter after averaging 20.4 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.2 steals…she totaled 26 points, six rebounds, eight assists and five steals in a recent 77-71 win over LIU Post leads the team in scoring (21.4 ppg), rebounding (10.0 rpg), assists (4.7 apg) and steals (78)…MacKenzie was a second-team All-ECC pick after averaging 13.4 points and 8.0 rebounds last year…she totaled 17 points and nine boards in the win over Bridgeport and is averaging 12.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.3 blocks…additional production has come from junior guard Kristen Korzevinski (9.9 ppg) and junior transfer Imani Davidson (9.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg)…Korzevinski scored 18 points in a big 77-71 win over District of Columbia.
POLL POSITION: Daemen is ranked fourth in the latest United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) poll.
ECC HONOR ROLL: Sarah Saba has been honored as the ECC Rookie of the Week three times 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.
STILWELL NEARS 1,000 POINT CLUB: Raeann Stilwell enters this weekend's action just 39 points shy of becoming the 22nd player in program history to score 1,000 points…she set the school-record for three-pointers made (77) and attempted (252) in a season last winter and 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 moved into second place in career three-pointers during the win over Roberts Wesleyan last week and enters this weekend with 177 three-pointers in 75 career games…Ruddell owns the school-record for career three-pointers made (242).
BLOCK PARTY: Daemen ranks first among all ECC teams in blocks per game (7.2)…senior Shy Britton has registered five or more blocks five times this year and leads the ECC in rejections (52)…sophomore 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…she ranks eighth among the ECC leaders in blocks (27) this season and stands 11 blocks shy of becoming the ninth player in program history to reach 100 career rejections…freshman Sarah Saba has recorded at least one block in 10 of DC's 16 games and ranks 13th in the league in total blocks (17).
SUDDEN IMPACT: Transfer Shy Britton and freshman Sarah Saba have wasted no time in contributing to the team…Britton has scored in double figures 11 times and has recorded five double-doubles on the year…she leads the team in scoring (13.6 ppg), rebounding (7.9 rpg), blocks (52) and field goal percentage (.469)…Saba is a three-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection and ranks third on the team in scoring (12.6 ppg), rebounding (6.4 rpg) and blocks (17)…she ranks third among ECC freshmen in scoring and leads all ECC freshmen in rebounding and blocks.
WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen is idle until Friday, Feb. 6 when it hosts the University of the District of Columbia in an ECC contest…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.
