THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's basketball team returns from the holiday break by traveling to Saint Michael's College for its final non-league game of the 2015-16 season.
Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015
Daemen at Saint Michael's - 1 p.m.
Vincent C. Ross Sports Center, Colchester, Vt.
DC ROSTER / DC STATS / SMC ROSTER / SMC STATS / LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO
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 460-257 (.642) 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 (2-6; 0-3 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…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…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…redshirt 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…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)…the Wildcats opened the 2015-16 season by winning two of their first three games, but are winless in their last five contests…Daemen suffered a 74-68 loss to Dowling (Dec. 18) and a 70-68 OT loss to Bridgeport (Dec. 20) in their final games before the NCAA-mandated holiday break...the loss at Bridgeport was Daemen's second OT loss in an eight-day span (87-84 vs. Edinboro on Dec. 12), and the Wildcats are now 2-4 in games decided by six points or less this season…Saba has scored in double figures in five of the last six games and is averaging a team-high 13.1 points…she also leads the team in blocks (20) and steals (14), and ranks second in rebounding (6.9 rpg)…Stilwell scored a season-high 17 points in the loss to Dowling and is averaging 11.4 points…she leads the team in three-pointers (16), steals (14) and assists (28)…additional production has come from McDonell (9.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg), Heinold (8.6 ppg, 13 3pt fgs), Colon (7.1 ppg, 8.1 rpg) and Galus (7.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg).
THE PURPLE KNIGHTS (3-6; 1-5 NE-10): Saint Michael's is located in Colchester, Vt. and the Purple Knights are members of the Northeast-10 Conference...SMC is led by third-year head coach Shannon Kynoch who has led the program to a 19-42 record to date...after going 4-21 in her first season, Kynoch led SMC to a 12-15 mark last season, and the Purple Knights' first NE-10 Conference Tournament berth since the 2011-12 season...SMC was picked to finish seventh in Northeast Division of the NE-10 this season via the league's preseason poll...seven players return from SMC's 2014-15 roster, headlined by 2015 second-team All-NE-10 selection Makenzie Burud...a 5-foot-8 senior guard, Burud led SMC in scoring (16.2 ppg), rebounding (8.0 rpg), assists (65) and steals (41) last season...also back is 5-foot-7 junior guard Indira Evora who averaged 10.1 points per game last year...the Purple Knights are off to a 3-6 start this season, and are 2-1 in non-league games thus far...SMC's lone non-league loss came in their season opener vs. Shippensburg on Nov. 13...they rebounded the following day by downing Lock Haven, and went on to add a non-league win at Caldwell on Nov. 29...SMC picked up its first NE-10 win of the season by knocking off NE-10 Northeast Division favorite Stonehill on Dec. 5, 79-73...it was SMC's first win at Stonehill's Merkert Gymnasium since 1991, and the host Skyhawks were ranked No. 5 in the D2SIDA East Region media poll at the time of the game...the Purple Knights have been idle since a 77-71 home loss to Bentley on Dec. 12...sophomore guard Leah Spencer has paced SMC thus far...she scored a season-high 21 points in the win at Stonehill and is averaging a team-high 13.8 points per game...Burud is chipping in 13.6 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, and she's one of just three NE-10 players to be averaging a double-double at this juncture of the season...additional production has come from Evora (12.8 ppg, 17 3pt fgs) and senior forward Megan Gaudreau (8.7 ppg) who leads the team in three-point field goals (20) and assists (22).
THE SERIES vs. SMC: Wednesday's game will mark just the second all-time meeting between Daemen and Saint Michael's, and the first since the 1997-98 season...the teams last met on Nov. 30, 1997 at the Fighting Scots Invitational hosted by Edinboro with Daemen scoring a 79-75 win.
SHOOTING STAR: Senior Raeann Stilwell entered the 2015-16 season ranked among Daemen's all-time leaders in several categories…she currently ranks 12th in career points (1,214), 10th in career points per game (12.6), second in career three-pointers made (221), second in career three-pointers attempted (686) and 10th in career three-point field goal percentage (.322)…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).
JUNIOR MINTS: Juniors Natalie Galus and Leah McDonell have been a constants in the starting lineup since their freshman season…both players have started all 63 games over the past three seasons…Galus has totaled 639 points, 432 rebounds and 128 blocks over her three-year career and ranks seventh among Daemen's all-time leaders in career blocks…McDonell has racked up 451 points, 282 rebounds and 140 assists.
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)…she has scored in double figures five times this season and is averaging a team-high 13.1 points.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats return to East Coast Conference play when they host Saint Thomas Aquinas College on Jan. 9…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.
