THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's basketball team returns to the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium for the first time in nearly a month this weekend when it hosts Dowling College (Jan. 9) and the University of Bridgeport (Jan. 10) in East Coast Conference action.
Friday, Jan. 9, 2015
Dowling at Daemen - 6 p.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO / DAEMEN ROSTER / DAEMEN STATS / DOW ROSTER / DOW STATS
Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015
Bridgeport at Daemen - 2 p.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO / UB ROSTER / UB STATS
THE COACHES: David Skolen is in his 23rd season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen and has posted a 448-241 (.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…Suzi Fregosi is in her first season as head women's basketball coach at Dowling…a four-year starter at Iona College, she previous coached at Massapequa High School and led the team to their first Nassau County championship since 2006…Jennifer Carleton is in her second season as head women's basketball coach at Bridgeport…prior to Bridgeport she spent six years as head coach at Goldey-Beacom and posted a 94-76 (.553) record during her time at GBC…she led GBC to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) title and the program's first-ever NCAA Division II Tournament bid in 2011.
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. DOWLING: Friday's game will mark the third all-time meeting between Daemen and Dowling…the Golden Lions swept the season series last year…Dowling posted a 68-44 victory over the Wildcats at Dowling…the hosts built a 37-19 halftime lead and maintained a double-digit lead the entire second half…Julia Koppl led the way with 22 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks…Raeann Stilwell paced the Wildcats with 17 points…the Golden Lions completed the sweep with a 73-51 victory at Lumsden Gym…Dolwing trailed 29-28 at the half, but the Golden Lions opened the second half with a 22-5 run to take control…Krstina Surlan led a balanced Dowling attack with 16 points off the bench, while Koppl added 12 points and 18 rebounds…Lindsay Stoddard totaled 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Daemen.
THE SERIES vs. BRIDGEPORT: Saturday's game will mark the third all-time meeting between Daemen and Bridgeport…the teams split the season series last year…the Purple Knights posted a 73-59 victory at Bridgeport…the hosts held a three-point lead (32-29) at the half and took control with a 14-0 run over the first 4:14 of the second half…Jenna Hoffman scored 14 points off the bench for UB, while Shannon Holt added 13 points and eight rebounds…Raeann Stilwell (17 pts) and Lindsay Stoddard (14 pts, 13 rebs, 5 asts) paced the Wildcats…Daemen earned the split with an 87-72 win at Lumsden Gym…the Wildcats held a 56-54 lead midway through the second half when the hosts took control with 12 unanswered points…Stoddard totaled 26 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and four steals in the final game of her career, while Stilwell drilled four three-pointers and totaled 22 points…UB's Aziza Patterson drilled eight three-pointers and led all scorers with 36 points.
THE WILDCATS (4-5; 1-2 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…veteran head coach David Skolen must overcome the graduation of point guard Lindsay Stoddard, who collected second team All-ECC honors after ranking second on the team in scoring (14.9 ppg) and leading he team in rebounding (8.8 rpg) and assists (6.1 apg)…the Wildcats have won three of their last four games and are coming off a 63-47 victory at Washington Adventist this past Saturday…junior Raeann Stilwell and sophomores Natalie Galus, Taylor Heinold and Leah McDonell top the list of returning players…Stilwell scored in double figures in 24 of 26 games last year and averaged a team-high 17.0 points with a school-record 77 three-pointers…she drained 7-of-10 three-pointers and scored 23 points in a recent 101-83 win over Briarclifffe and is averaging 15.3 points with a team-high 29 three-pointers…Galus, Heinold and McDonell each started all 26 games as rookies…Galus led the ECC in blocked shots (62) and averaged 11.2 points and 7.0 rebounds last year…she totaled 10 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four blocks in the win over Briarcliffe and is averaging 8.4 points and a team-high 8.8 rebounds…Heinold averaged 9.2 points and 6.7 rebounds last year, while McDonell averaged 6.0 points and 4.9 rebounds…Heinold returned to the lineup against Briarcliffe after missing five games due to injury and total 15 points in 17 minutes off the bench…McDonell scored a season-high 13 points in a 65-53 win over Goucher…senior 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, 15 rebounds and six blocks in a 72-60 win over Molloy and followed up with 20 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in an 82-67 loss to Queens…she is averaging 12.7 points and 8.3 rebounds with 28 blocks…Saba played four years of varsity basketball at Lancaster High School and scored a school-record 1,176 career points…she earned first-team All-Western New York and eighth team Class AA all-state honors as a senior…she made her first career start in an 85-72 loss to Point Park and totaled 21 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks…she is averaging 12.2 points and 6.2 rebounds…Miles played at state powerhouse Cicero-North Syracuse and helped the Northstars to three NYSPHSAA regional titles and one (2012) state championship…she is averaging 13 minutes off the bench and totaled seven points and six rebounds in an 85-72 loss to Point Park.
THE GOLDEN LIONS (2-8; 2-2 ECC): Dowling returns five players and three starters from last year's team that finished 10-16 (9-11 ECC) and advanced to the ECC Tournament…Dowling was voted eighth in the 2014-15 ECC preseason poll…Dowling will be playing its first game since suffering a 56-40 loss at Chestnut Hill on Dec. 19…senior guards Nicole Caggiano and Christine Verrelle have paced the Golden Lions thus far…Caggiano has scored in double figures in all 10 games and totaled 20 points and five assists in a recent 63-50 win over St. Thomas Aquinas…she is averaging a team-high 15.2 points with 21 three-pointers…Verrelle, a honorable mention All-ECC pick last year, contributed 16 points, eight assists and four steals in a 71-65 win over Mercy and is averaging 12.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.3 steals…additional production has come from junior guard Krstina Surlan (9.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg) and senior forward Kristen McMahon (8.0 ppg, 8.2 rpg)…Surlan had 19 points in a 65-54 loss to defending national champion Bentley, while McMahon had 15 points and 12 boards in the win over Mercy.
THE PURPLE KNIGHTS (2-10; 0-4 ECC): Bridgeport returns nine players and four starters from last year's team that finished 7-19 overall and 5-15 in the ECC…UB was voted ninth in the 2014-15 ECC preseason poll…the Purple Knights snapped a nine-game losing streak following an 85-65 win over Chestnut Hill on Dec. 30 and are coming off a 77-64 loss at Southern New Hampshire this past Monday…the Purple Knights play at Roberts Wesleyan Friday (Jan. 9) before facing Daemen Saturday…seniors Tiara Aziz, Jennifer Kucukkaya and Jenna Hoffman have paced the Purple Knights thus far…Aziz poured in 36 points in the win over Chestnut Hill and is averaging 14.8 points and 4.8 rebounds…Hoffman drilled five triples and scored 30 points in an 82-74 loss to New York Tech and is averaging 13.2 points with 23 three-pointers…Kucukkaya totaled 26 points and 10 rebounds in a 75-69 loss to LIU Post and is averaging 12.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists…senior center Shannon Holt totaled 20 points, nine rebounds, six blocks and four assists in an early-season win over Southern Connecticut, but has missed the last six games.
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 (166) among Daemen's all-time leaders and is just eight 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…she stands 20 blocks shy of becoming the ninth player in program history to reach 100 career rejections.
WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen returns to action next weekend when it travels to St. Thomas Aquinas College (Jan. 16) and Mercy College (Jan. 17) for ECC games…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.
