THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's basketball team closes out the 2014-15 regular-season with East Coast Conference games at LIU Post (Feb. 27) and New York Tech (Feb. 28) this weekend.

Friday, Feb. 27, 2015
Daemen at LIU Post - 5 p.m.
Pratt Recreation Center, Brookville, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO / DAEMEN ROSTER / DAEMEN STATS / LIUP ROSTER / LIUP STATS

Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015
Daemen at New York Tech - 1 p.m.
Recreation Hall, Old Westbury, N.Y.
LIVE STATS / NYIT ROSTER / NYIT STATS

POLL POSITION: Daemen is ranked eighth in the final United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) poll…selections for the eight-team USCAA National Championship Tournament took place Monday (Feb. 23)…Daemen is seeded fifth and will face No. 4 The Apprentice School in the quarterfinals…click HERE for more details.

THE COACHES: David Skolen is in his 23rd season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen and has posted a 455-249 (.646) 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…Deirdre Moore is in her seventh season as head women's basketball coach at LIU Post…she entered the 2014-15 season with a career-record of 114-63 record (.644) and has led the Pioneers to four NCAA Division II Tournament appearances (2011, 12, 13, 14)…Anthony Crocitto is in his sixth season as head women's basketball coach at New York Tech…over the past five seasons he has led the Bears to a 69-70 (.496) record…he guided the Bears to a school-record 23 wins and their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament in 2013.

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.

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. LIU POST: Friday's game will mark the fourth all-time meeting between Daemen and LIU Post…LIUP has prevailed in each of the previous three meetings…the Pioneers posted a 79-69 victory at Daemen last month…Chelsea Williams led the way with 21 points, while Nyasia Davis totaled 11 points and 17 rebounds…Shy Britton and Sarah Saba both scored 21 points for Daemen…LIUP swept the season series last winter…the teams met for the first time ever on Long Island and the Pioneers posted a 75-56 victory…Williams led a balanced attack with 19 points…Natalie Galus had 18 points, seven rebounds and four blocks for Daemen…the Pioneers completed the sweep with a 97-66 win at Lumsden Gym…Shayna Gatling led the way with 25 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and four steals…Lindsay Stoddard paced the Wildcats with 17 points.

THE SERIES vs. NEW YORK TECH: Saturday's game will mark the fourth all-time meeting between Daemen and New York Tech…NYIT has prevailed in each of the previous three meetings…the Bears posted a 71-67 victory last month at Daemen…Dina Ragab totaled 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Bears, while Natalie Galus drained three three-pointers and scored 17 points for Daemen…NYIT swept the season series last winter…the teams met for the first time ever at NYIT and the Bears posted a 79-62 victory…Shannon Duer led the Bears with 18 points and 14 rebounds…Galus registered 17 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for the Wildcats…the Bears completed the sweep with an 81-73 win at Lumsden Gym…Alex Venuto (17 pts) and Duer (14 pts, 11 rebs) led the Bears…Lindsay Stoddard totaled 24 points, eight rebounds and four assists for Daemen.

THE WILDCATS (11-13; 8-10 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 five games and is coming off a 60-55 loss at Roberts Wesleyan Tuesday…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 scored in double figures in 12-straight games and has averaged 16.8 points and 7.7 rebounds over that 12-game stretch…she leads the team in scoring (14.2 ppg) and ranks third in both rebounding (7.1 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 totaled 32 points, 16 rebounds and 14 blocks during Daemen's two games last weekend and ranks second on the team in scoring (13.5 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 a 79-76 OT win over Mercy last Saturday…she ranks third on the team in scoring (12.4 ppg)…she leads the team assists (2.8 apg), steals (38) and three-pointers (58)…Galus totaled 13 points, nine rebounds and a season-high six blocks in the win over Mercy and is averaging 10.3 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds…McDonell scored 11 points in a recent win over Dowling and is averaging 7.3 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 a 68-61 win over Bridgeport…Miles scored a season-high eight points in a 72-60 win over Dowling and grabbed a season-high eight rebounds in the win over Bridgeport.

THE PIONEERS (15-11; 11-7 ECC): LIU Post returns just five players and one starter from last year's team that finished 24-7 overall, claimed the ECC regular-season title (18-2) and advanced to the regional championship game of the NCAA Division II Tournament…LIUP was voted second in the 2014-15 ECC preseason poll…the Pioneers have won lost three of their last four games and are coming off a 100-70 setback at NYIT this past Tuesday…senior guard Chelsea Williams tops the list of returning players…she was named the 2013-14 ECC Player of the Year and the 2014-15 ECC Preseason Player of the Year…she has scored 20 or more points 17 times and scored 31 points in a loss to Roberts Wesleyan last month…she ranks first among the ECC scoring leaders (20.9 ppg) and leads the team in three-pointers (53), assists (3.4 apg) and steals (53)…junior center Nyasia Davis is averaging 13.3 points and a team-high 10.8 rebounds, while senior transfer Ashley Castle is contributing 11.0 points with 40 three-pointers…Davis had 22 points and 10 rebounds in a recent win over Dowling…Castle, who averaged 11.5 points and 3.7 assists at Bowie State last year, drained four three-pointers and totaled 22 points in a recent win over Molloy…additional production has come from junior Quanisha Ratley (7.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 28 stls).

THE BEARS (17-9; 12-6 ECC): New York Tech returns 10 players and two starters from last year's team that finished 18-10 (13-7 ECC) and advanced to the semifinals of the ECC Tournament…NYIT was voted fourth in the 2014-15 ECC preseason poll…NYIT hosts Roberts Wesleyan Friday before taking on Daemen Saturday…the Bears snapped a three-game losing streak with an impressive 100-70 victory over LIU Post this past Tuesday…junior G/F Dina Ragab was a first-team All-ECC pick last year…she had 20 points and 10 rebounds in the win over LIU Post and ranks second on the team in scoring (15.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg)…newcomer Shanice Allen netted 18 points in the win over LIU Post and is averaging a team-high 15.2 points with 36 three-pointers…additional production has come from sophomores Shannon Duer (10.0 ppg, 9.1 rpg) and Julie Williams (11.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.0 apg, 43 3pt fgs, 49 stls)…Duer totaled 22 points and 13 rebounds in the win over LIU Post.

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 83 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 last weekend and the Wildcats rank first among all ECC teams in blocks per game (6.9)…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 (41) this season and recorded her 100th career block during last Saturday's win over Mercy…freshman Sarah Saba has recorded at least one block in 13 of DC's 24 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 18 times and has recorded five double-doubles on the year…she ranks second on the team in scoring (13.5 ppg) and rebounding (7.4 rpg) and leads the team in blocks (78) and field goal percentage (.476)…Saba has scored in double figures 21 times and is a six-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection…she leads the team and ranks first among ECC freshman in scoring (14.2 ppg)…she also ranks third on the team and leads all ECC freshmen in rebounding (7.1 rpg).

WHAT'S NEXT: Daemen travels to Uniontown, Pa. this week to take part in the 2015 USCAA Tournament…a complete tournament preview will be posted on the Daemen athletic website on Tuesday.

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.