BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Freshman Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y.) continued her solid play as of late, as she totaled a career-high 25 points and also recorded 11 rebounds and three steals to lead Daemen College to a 68-61 victory over the University of Bridgeport here today in East Coast Conference women's basketball action. The win earned Daemen a season sweep of UB, as the Wildcats posted a 75-65 victory over the Purple Knights last month at Lumsden Gymnasium.
It was the second win in two days for Daemen, which improved to 10-11 overall and 7-8 in the ECC. The Purple Knights dropped their fourth-straight game and fell to 4-20 overall and 2-14 in the ECC.
It marked the fourth double-double of the season for Saba, who connected on 9-of-18 shots overall and was 6-of-8 from the charity stripe. A four-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection, she has averaged 18.6 points over the past seven games and is averaging a team-high 14.0 points per game overall. Junior Raeann Stilwell (Cheektowaga, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) contributed 11 points, while senior Shy Britton (Rochester, N.Y./Niagara University) added 10. Sophomore Natalie Galus (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) added five points and nine rebounds.
For the second-straight game the Wildcats got solid bench support from freshman Liz Miles (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) and junior Samantha Wozniak (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster). Miles played 16 minutes and grabbed a season-high eight rebounds, while Wozniak drilled three three-pointers and chipped in nine points in 12 minutes.
Senior Tiara Aziz (Easton, Pa.) paced the Purple Knights with 29 points and seven rebounds.
Neither team led by more than five points over the first 12 minutes of the game and it was tied at 20-20 when the Wildcats put together a 14-2 run. Stilwell scored six points during the run and two free throws by sophomore Leah McDonell (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Cardinal O'Hara) with 2:29 left before halftime capped the run and gave Daemen a 34-22 lead. The teams traded baskets the rest of the half and Daemen took a 40-29 lead into intermission.
Bridgeport outscored the Wildcats 13-6 over the first eight minutes of the second half and the hosts cut the lead to four points, 46-42, following a layup by Aziz with 12:08 left to play. The Wildcats held a 58-43 lead when they regained a double digit lead following back-to-back three-pointers by Wozniak. Bridgeport chipped away at the lead and eventually made it a one possession game, 59-56, following a put back by Hoffman with 3:10 left to play. Daemen was clinging to a 63-61 lead with just over a minute to play when Saba collected an big offensive rebound and was fouled. She made one of two free throws with 50 seconds left, and after UB came up empty on their next possession Saba drained two free throws with 23 seconds left to give Daemen a 66-61 lead. McDonnell came up with a steal on Bridgeport's next possession and she closed out the scoring with two free throws with 13 seconds to play.
Both teams shot 35-percent from the field. Daemen connected on 18-of-22 free throws, and canned 6-of-21 from downtown. Bridgeport was also solid from the charity stripe (14-for-19), but the hosts made just 3-of-13 from behind the three-point arc. Daemen finished with a 48-38 advantage in total rebounds, and the Wildcats collected 16 offensive rebounds which they converted into 15 second-chance points.
Daemen is idle until next weekend when it hosts St. Thomas Aquinas College (Feb. 20) and Mercy College (Feb. 21) in ECC games. It will mark the final two homes games for the Wildcats this season.
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