THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's basketball team travels to long-time rival Roberts Wesleyan College Tuesday (Feb. 24) for an East Coast Conference game…it will mark the first of three-straight road games for the Wildcats this week.
Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015
Daemen at Roberts Wesleyan - 6 p.m.
Voller Athletic Center, Rochester, N.Y.
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THE COACHES: David Skolen is in his 23rd season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen and has posted a 455-248 (.647) 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…Bob Segave is in his ninth season as head women's basketball coach at Roberts Wesleyan…he entered the 2014-15 season with a career record of 134-101 (.570), including a trip to the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) national championship game in 2011 and NCCAA Final Four in 2008.
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 eighth in the latest United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) poll…selections for the eighth-team USCAA National Championship Tournament were announced Monday (Feb. 23)...Daemen is seeded fifth and will play No. 4 The Apprentice School in the opening round…click HERE for more details.
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 Tuesday's game will mark the 56th all-time meeting between the two former American Mideast Conference (AMC) rivals…Daemen has prevailed in 13 of the last 18 meetings and owns a 39-17 advantage in the all-time series…Daemen rallied for a 70-69 win lat month at Lumsden Gym…RWC led by 13 points (64-51) with just over seven minutes to play before the Wildcats closed out the game with a 19-5 run…Shy Britton totaled 18 points and 11 rebounds for Daemen, while Sarah Saba scored 11 of her 14 points during the game-ending 19-5 run…Marissa Sell paced the Redhawks with 13 points, 15 rebounds and five assistsd…RWC swept the season series last year…the Redhawks posted a 79-69 victory at RWC…it marked the first-ever ECC game for Daemen…Samantha Courtney led the way with 22 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks…Natalie Galus drilled four three-pointers and totaled 16 points and nine rebounds for Daemen…Lindsay Stoddard stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, nine rebounds, five assists and five steals…RWC completed the sweep following a 76-61 win at Lumsden Gym…Sell totaled 26 points and 15 rebounds for RWC…Raeann Stilwell drilled four three-pointers and scored 23 points for Daemen.
THE WILDCATS (11-12; 8-9 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…Daemen has won three of its last four games and is coming off a 79-76 OT win over Mercy this past Saturday…Daemen's starting lineup of freshman Sarah Saba, senior transfer Shy Britton, junior Raeann Stilwell and sophomores Natalie Galus and Leah McDonell have accounted for 85-percent of the team's total points…Saba has averaged 18.1 points and 7.9 rebounds over the last nine games and has scored in double figures 20 times…she leads the team in scoring (14.3 ppg) and ranks third in both rebounding (7.0 rpg) and blocks (25)…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 32 points, 16 rebounds and 14 blocks during Daemen's two games this past weekend and ranks second on the team in scoring (13.4 ppg) and rebounding (7.4 rpg)…she leads the ECC in blocked shots (78)…Stilwell averaged a team-high 17.0 points with a school-record 77 three-pointers last year…she hit the game-tying three-pointer late in regulation and totaled 17 points in the win over Mercy Saturday…she ranks third on the team in scoring (12.7 ppg)…she leads the team assists (2.7 apg), steals (37) and three-pointers (58)…Galus totaled 13 points, nine rebounds and a season-high six blocks in the win over Mercy and is averaging 10.2 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds…McDonell scored 11 points in a recent win over Dowling and is averaging 7.5 points…junior Samantha Wozniak and freshman Liz Miles have provided solid bench support in recent games…Wozniak drilled three three-pointers and equaled her season-high for points (9) in last weekend's win over Bridgeport…Miles scored a season-high eight points in the win over Dowling and grabbed a season-high eight rebounds in the win over Bridgeport last weekend.
THE REDHAWKS (18-5; 13-4 ECC): Roberts Wesleyan successfully completed its transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II this past summer and is in its first season as an official NCAA Division II member school…the Redhawks return 11 players and three starters from last year's team that finished 15-14 overall and 10-10 in the ECC…RWC was voted fifth in the 2014-15 ECC preseason poll…the Redhawks have won four-straight games and swept a weekend series with Mercy (71-58) and St. Thomas Aquinas (50-46 OT) this past weekend…RWC is ranked sixth in the latest D2SIDA East Region poll…senior forward Marrisa Sell tops the list of returning players…a two-time All-ECC selection, she totaled 21 points and 18 rebounds in a recent win over Dowling and is averaging a team-high 15.4 points and a league-high 12.3 rebounds per game…freshman Lucy Covley is a three-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection…she had a team-high 14 points and 12 rebounds in the OT win over STAC…she has started 22 games and is averaging 13.0 points with a team-high 58 three-pointers…additional production has come from junior forward Samantha Courtney (12.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg) and freshman guard Brooke Fields (8.9 ppg, 33 3pt fgs).
ECC HONOR ROLL: Sarah Saba has been honored as the ECC Rookie of the Week six of the last 10 weeks 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 a 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 stands just two three-pointers shy of becoming the first player in program history to record 60 or more three-pointers in three-straight seasons…she moved into second place in career three-pointers during the win over Roberts Wesleyan on Jan. 20 and has totaled 195 three-pointers in 82 career games…Jessica Ruddell owns the school-record for career three-pointers made (242).
BLOCK PARTY: Daemen registered a season-high 15 blocks in each of its two games this past weekend and the Wildcats rank first among all ECC teams in blocks per game (7.1)…senior Shy Britton has registered five or more blocks eight times this year and leads the ECC in rejections (78)…she is looking to become the ninth player in program history to record 80 or more blocks in a season…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 seventh among the ECC leaders in blocks (39) this season and recorded her 100th career block during Saturday's win over Mercy…freshman Sarah Saba has recorded at least one block in 13 of DC's 23 games and ranks 14th in the league in total blocks (25).
SUDDEN IMPACT: Transfer Shy Britton and freshman Sarah Saba have wasted no time in contributing to the team…Britton has scored in double figures 17 times and has recorded five double-doubles on the year…she ranks second on the team in scoring (13.4 ppg) and rebounding (7.5 rpg) and leads the team in blocks (78) and field goal percentage (.469)…Saba is a six-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection…she leads the team and ranks first among ECC freshman in scoring (14.3 ppg)…she also ranks third on the team and leads all ECC freshmen in rebounding (7.0 rpg).
WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen closes out the regular season this weekend when it travels to Long Island for ECC games against LIU Post (Feb. 27) and New York Institute of Technology (Feb. 28).
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.
