OAKDALE, N.Y. – Freshman Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y.) drilled four three-pointers and totaled 18 points and eight rebounds to lead Daemen College to a 72-60 victory over Dowling College here tonight in East Coast Conference women's basketball action. The win earned Daemen a season sweep of Dowling, as the Wildcats posted a 67-59 victory over the Golden Lions last month at Lumsden Gymnasium.
Daemen snapped a five-game losing streak and improved to 9-11 overall and 6-8 in the ECC. The Wildcats have already bettered their overall and conference win totals from a year ago when they finished 8-18 overall and 5-15 in the league. The host Golden Lions dropped their fourth-straight game and fell to 4-17 overall and 4-11 in the ECC.
Saba connected on 6-of-17 shots overall and was 4-of-7 from downtown. A four-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection, she has averaged 17.5 points over the past six games and is averaging a team-high 13.5 points per game overall. Senior Shy Britton (Rochester, N.Y./Niagara University) added 11 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore Leah McDonell (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Cardinal O'Hara) also scored 11 points and dished out three assists. Junior Raeann Stilwell (Cheektowaga, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) went 3-for-6 from three-point land and totaled nine points and six rebounds.
Solid bench support came from freshman Liz Miles (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) and juniors Samantha Wozniak (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) and Somara Colon (Bronx, N.Y./Mott Haven Village Prep). Miles played 14 minutes and totaled eight points, five rebounds and two assists. Wozniak also played 14 minutes and scored five points, while Colon added four points in 14 minutes.
Junior Krstina Surlan (Novi Grad, Bosnia) paced the Golden Lions with 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Daemen drained four triples (two by Saba, two by Stilwell) over the first six minutes of the game en route to an early 19-5 lead, but the hosts answered with a 15-6 run and cut the lead to three points, 25-22, after senior Christine Verrelle (Abington, Pa.) drained a jumper with 7:33 left before halftime. The Wildcats later regained a nine point advantage, 37-38, after Saba drilled her third triple of the first half with just over three minutes left before the break. Daemen took a 40-37 lead into halftime.
Dowling outscored the Wildcats 8-2 over the first 2:27 of the second half, but the visitors countered with a 13-3 run and took a 55-48 lead following a layup by Saba midway through the second half. Daemen opened up a 12-point edge, 66-54, after Wozniak hit a jumper with 6:19 left, but the Golden Lions cut the lead in half following a 6-0 spurt. McDonell came up with a key offensive rebound and scored with 3:19 remaining to give the Wildcats a 68-60 lead, and neither team scored again until a McDonell layup with just over two minutes left gave Daemen a 70-60 lead. Surlan was off the mark with a three-point attempt on Dowling's next possession and McDonell closed out the scoring with 1:32 to play.
Both teams shot 40-percent from the field in a game that featured only 24 total fouls. Daemen was 6-of-7 from the charity stripe, while Dowling made just 1-of-5 free throws. Daemen posted a 47-36 edge in total rebounds and the visitors finished with a 28-16 edge in points in the paint. The Wildcats grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and posted a 14-9 advantage in second-chance points. Daemen finished with a season-low nine turnovers in the game and dished out 15 assists.
Daemen returns to action tomorrow (Feb. 14) when it travels to the University of Bridgeport for an ECC game at 2 p.m.
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