THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's basketball team travels to Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio for a non-league game Saturday (Nov. 21).
Saturday, Nov. 21 (at Jerome T. Osborne Family Athletic & Wellness Center, Painesville, Ohio)
Daemen at Lake Erie College, 2 p.m.
DC ROSTER / DC STATS / LEC ROSTER / LEC STATS / LIVE STATS
DIVISION II DEBUT: Daemen successfully completed a three-year membership process and was approved for active membership status at the NCAA Division II level by the NCAA Membership Committee his past summer…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 2015-16 academic year will mark the first year Daemen will be eligible for ECC and NCAA post-season play.
HEAD COACH DAVID SKOLEN: David Skolen is in his 24th season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen…he has posted a 459-252 (.646) career record and has guided the Wildcats to fifteen 20-win seasons, six conference championships, nine appearances in the NAIA Division II National Tournament and two appearances in the USCAA National Tournament…Skolen led the Wildcats to the USCAA national championship in 2013 and 2015.
THE WILDCATS (1-1; 0-0 ECC): Daemen returns four starters and 12 players from last year's team that posted a 14-15 overall record and an 8-12 mark in the East Coast Conference…the Wildcats won six of their final 10 games last year and placed seventh in the final East Coast Conference standings…DC was selected to the USCAA Tournament for the second time in three years and claimed its second national title following wins over The Apprentice School (82-72), Concordia-Alabama (63-57) and Berea (78-75)…the Wildcats were voted eighth in the 2015-16 ECC preseason poll…the graduation of forward Shy Britton (13.6 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 94 blks), an honorable mention All-ECC pick last winter, will take its toll down low…senior Raeann Stilwell and juniors Natalie Galus and Leah McDonell have been constants in the starting lineup the past two years…Stilwell has averaged nearly 13 points a game over the past three seasons and contributed 12.7 points last year…she also led the team in assists (80) and steals (44)…Galus averaged 9.9 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds last year, while McDonell averaged a steady 7.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists…sophomore Sarah Saba is coming off an impressive rookie season…a six-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection, she led the team in scoring average (14.2 ppg) and ranked second in rebounding (7.2 rpg) and third in blocks (37) last winter…sophomore guard Taylor Heinold also returns to the fold after missing all but four games due to injury last year…she averaged 9.2 points and 6.7 rebounds as a freshman in 2013-14…seniors Samantha Wozniak and Somara Colon and sophomore Liz Miles will once against provide quality depth…Wozniak averaged 15 minutes a game off the bench last year and ranked fourth in three-pointers (19)…Colon averaged 11 minutes and 3.3 rebounds, while Miles averaged 12 minutes a games as a rookie…newcomer Jesse DeWaters comes onboard after leading Niagara County Community College to a 25-5 record and an appearance in the NJCAA Tournament last year…a 5-foot-10 point guard, she averaged 11.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and a team-high 7.0 assists for the Thunderwolves last year…she also ranked second in three-pointers (37), blocks (54) and steals (71)…additional newcomers include junior guard Jazzae Verse and freshman center Erin Egan…Verse played at Erie Community College in 2012-13 and 2013-14 and averaged 9.2 points her sophomore year…Egan led Williamsville South to a 26-2 record and the NYSPHSAA Class A state title last year…the Wildcats opened the 2015-16 season last weekend with a victory over Post University (75-70) and a loss to Nyack College (64-56) during the ECC-CACC Challenge hosted by Roberts Wesleyan College…Heinold scored a team-high 15 points in the win over Post, while Colon totaled 12 points and a career-high 16 rebounds off the bench in the loss to Nyack.
THE STORM (2-1; 0-0 GLIAC): Lake Erie is a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and was voted eighth in the 2015-16 GLIAC South preseason poll… veteran head coach Bob Booher returns 12 players and four starters from last year's team that finished 10-18 overall and 5-17 in the GLIAC…sophomore guard Kayla Gabor averaged a team-high 12.5 points as a rookie last year and was a preseason All-GLIAC selection this year…the Storm opened the the 2015-16 season with wins over Salem International (82-57) and Ohio Valley (74-45), before suffering a 100-69 loss at Ursuline this past Tuesday…Gabor scored 22 points in the loss to Ursuline and is averaging a team-high 18.3 points…she also leads the team in rebounding (5.0 rpg) and assists (4.7 apg)…additional productions has come from senior guard Shelby Carpenter (15.7 ppg, 10 steals), senior forward Kaeding Skelton (6.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and sophomore forward Christine Dawson (5.7 ppg)…Carpenter went 4-for-4 from three-point land and scored a team-high 16 points in the win over Salem International.
THE HISTORY VS. LAKE ERIE: Saturday's game will mark just the second all-time meeting between Daemen and Lake Erie, and the first since the 1989-90 season when the Wildcats posted a 90-55 victory over the Storm.
SHOOTING STAR: Senior Raeann Stilwell entered the 2015-16 season ranked among Daemen's all-time leaders in several categories…she currently ranks 13th in career points (1,144), 10th in career points per game (12.7), second in career three-pointers made (208), second in career three-pointers attempted (631) and 10th in career three-point field goal percentage (.334)…she set the school-record for three-pointers made (77) and attempted (252) in a season as a sophomore and has become the first player in program history to record 60 or more three-pointers in three-straight seasons…Jessica Ruddell (2001-05) owns the school-record for career three-pointers made (242) and career three-point field goals attempted (721).
SUDDEN IMPACT: Sophomore Sarah Saba is coming off an impressive rookie season in which she scored in double figures 24 times and was a six-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection…she led the team and ranked first among ECC freshman in scoring (14.2 ppg) and also ranked second on the team and led all ECC freshmen in rebounding (7.2 rpg)…Saba connected on 7-of-11 shots and totaled a team-high 24 points in an exhibition game loss to Division I University at Buffalo earlier this month.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats return to action next Saturday (Nov. 28) when they host Le Moyne College in their 2015-16 home opener…it will mark the first of three-straight home games of the Wildcats…click HERE for the complete 2015-16 schedule.
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.
