THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's basketball team travels to Dowling College (Feb. 13) and the University of Bridgeport (Feb. 14) this weekend for East Coast Conference games…the Wildcats will play five of their final seven regular-season games away from the friendly confines of Lumsden Gymnasium.
Friday, Feb. 13, 2015
Daemen at Dowling - 5 p.m.
Dowling Gymnasium, Oakdale, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO / DAEMEN ROSTER / DAEMEN STATS / DC ROSTER / DC STATS
Friday, Feb. 14, 2015
Daemen at Bridgeport - 2 p.m.
Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium, Bridgeport, Conn.
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 452-247 (.648) 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.
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.
POLL POSITION: Daemen is ranked fourth in the latest United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) poll.
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. DOWLING: Friday's game will mark the fourth all-time meeting between Daemen and Dowling…Dowling has prevailed in two of the previous three meetings…Daemen posted a 67-59 victory over Dowling last month at Lumsden Gym…Shy Britton totaled 15 points and five blocks for the Wildcats, while Sarah Saba added 14 points and 11 rebounds…Krstina Surlan scored 27 points for Dolwing…the Golden Lions swept the season series last year…Dowling posted a 68-44 victory over the Wildcats at Dowling…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…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 fourth all-time meeting between Daemen and Bridgeport…Daemen has prevailed in two of the previous three meetings…the Wildcats posted a 75-65 win over the Purple Knights last month at Lumsden Gym…Shy Britton (16 pts, 8 rebs, 5 blks), Natalie Galus (15 pts, 7 rebs) and Sarah Saba (13 pts, 9 rebs) paced a balanced Daemen attack… Jennifer Kucukkaya led UB with 20 points and seven assists…the teams split the season series last year…the Purple Knights posted a 73-59 victory at Bridgeport…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…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 (8-11; 5-8 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 already equaled the total number of overall and conference wins from last year…Daemen has dropped five-straight games and is coming off an 86-62 loss to District of Columbia last Friday…Daemen's starting lineup of senior transfer Shy Britton, junior Raeann Stilwell, sophomores Natalie Galus and Leah McDonell and freshman Sarah Saba have accounted for 84-percent of the team's total points…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 a recent loss to Molloy and leads the team in scoring (13.4 ppg), rebounding (7.6 rpg), blocks (63) and field goal percentage (.489)…Stilwell averaged a team-high 17.0 points with a school-record 77 three-pointers last year…she had five three-pointers and 21 points in a recent loss to Molloy and ranks third on the team in scoring (12.9 ppg)…she leads the team assists (3.1 apg), steals (32) and three-pointers (50)…Galus scored a career-high 22 points in a recent loss to Queens and is averaging 10.9 points and 7.2 rebounds…McDonell has scored in double figures in four of the last seven games and is averaging 7.5 points…Saba has averaged 17.4 points over the last five games and has scored in double figures 16 times…she ranks second in scoring (13.3 ppg) and third in both rebounding (6.2 rpg) and blocks (20).
THE GOLDEN LIONS (4-16; 4-10 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 has lost three-straight games and is coming off a 76-62 loss at LIU Post last weekend…senior guards Christine Verrelle and Nicole Caggiano and junior guard Krstina Surlan have paced the Golden Lions thus far…Verrelle, a honorable mention All-ECC pick last year, totaled 25 points and 10 rebounds in a recent win over Mercy and is averaging a team-high 14.5 points…she also ranks second in rebounding (6.4 rpg) and leads the team in three-pointers (28), assists (3.7 apg) and steals (42)…Caggiano started the first 11 games but has been sidelined for six of the last nine…she scored 16 points in a 59-55 win over Bridgeport last month and is averaging 13.4 points with 23 three-pointers…Surlan totaled 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists in the loss to LIU Post last weekend and is averaging 12.6 points and 4.4 rebounds with 24 three-pointers…additional production has come from and senior forward Kristen McMahon (7.2 ppg, 8.2 rpg) and Kamille Ejerta (5.7 ppg, 25 3pt fgs)…Ejerta has scored in double figures in three of the last four games and netted 16 points in a 74-62 loss to NYIT last week.
THE PURPLE KNIGHTS (4-18; 2-12 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 have dropped nine of their last 11 games and are coming off a 74-64 loss to NYIT last weekend…the Purple Knights host Roberts Wesleyan Friday (Feb. 13) before facing Daemen Saturday…seniors Tiara Aziz, Jennifer Kucukkaya and Jenna Hoffman have paced the Purple Knights thus far…Aziz scored 20 points in 27 minutes off the bench in the loss to NYIT last weekend and is averaging 14.7 points and 4.8 rebounds…Hoffman drilled five triples and scored 30 points in an 82-74 loss to New York Tech on Dec. 15 is averaging 11.0 points and 4.6 rebounds with 31 three-pointers…Kucukkaya drilled four three-pointers and totaled 22 points in a 71-66 loss to LIU Post last week and is averaging 12.3 points and 3.2 rebounds…she leads the team in assists (5.4 apg) and three-pointers (39)…additional production has come from senior center Shannon Holt (7.7 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 47 blks) and freshman forward Morgen Caution (5.7 ppg, 21 blks).
ECC HONOR ROLL: Sarah Saba has been honored as the ECC Rookie of the Week four times this season and is also a two-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 JOINS 1,000-POINT CLUB: Raeann Stilwell became the 22nd member of the program's 1,000-Point Club during the loss to UDC on Feb. 6…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 on Jan. 20 and has totaled 187 three-pointers in 78 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 (6.8)…senior Shy Britton has registered five or more blocks six times this year and leads the ECC in rejections (63)…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 10th 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 11 of DC's 19 games and ranks 14th in the league in total blocks (20).
SUDDEN IMPACT: Transfer Shy Britton and freshman Sarah Saba have wasted no time in contributing to the team…Britton has scored in double figures 13 times and has recorded five double-doubles on the year…she leads the team in scoring (13.4 ppg), rebounding (7.6 rpg), blocks (63) and field goal percentage (.489)…Saba is a four-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection…she ranks second on the team in scoring (13.3 ppg) and third in both rebounding (6.2 rpg) and blocks (20)…she is tied for first among ECC freshmen in scoring and leads all ECC freshmen in rebounding.
WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen is idle until next weekend when it hosts St. Thomas Aquinas College (Feb. 20) and Mercy College (Feb. 21) in ECC action…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.
