THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's basketball team travels to rival Roberts Wesleyan College for an East Coast Conference game Tuesday (Jan. 12).
Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016
Daemen at Roberts Wesleyan - 6 p.m.
Voller Athletic Center, Rochester, N.Y.
DC ROSTER / DC STATS / RWC ROSTER / RWC STATS / LIVE STATS / VIDEO
DIVISION II DEBUT: Daemen successfully completed a three-year membership process and was approved for active membership status at the NCAA Division II level by the NCAA Membership Committee his past summer…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 2015-16 academic year will mark the first year Daemen will be eligible for ECC and NCAA post-season play.
HEAD COACH DAVID SKOLEN: David Skolen is in his 24th season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen…he has posted a 460-260 (.639) career record and has guided the Wildcats to fifteen 20-win seasons, six conference championships, nine appearances in the NAIA Division II National Tournament and two appearances in the USCAA National Tournament…Skolen led the Wildcats to the USCAA national championship in 2013 and 2015.
THE WILDCATS (2-9; 0-5 ECC): Daemen returns four starters and 12 players from last year's team that posted a 14-15 overall record and an 8-12 mark in the East Coast Conference…the Wildcats were voted eighth in the 2015-16 ECC preseason poll…senior Raeann Stilwell and juniors Natalie Galus and Leah McDonell have been constants in the starting lineup the past two years…Stilwell has averaged nearly 13 points a game over the past three seasons and contributed 12.7 points last year…she also led the team in assists (80) and steals (44)…Galus averaged 9.9 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds last year, while McDonell averaged a steady 7.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists…sophomore Sarah Saba is coming off an impressive rookie season…a six-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection, she led the team in scoring average (14.2 ppg) and ranked second in rebounding (7.2 rpg) and third in blocks (37) last winter…redshirt sophomore guard Taylor Heinold also returns to the fold after missing all but four games due to injury last year…she averaged 9.2 points and 6.7 rebounds as a freshman in 2013-14…seniors Samantha Wozniak and Somara Colon and sophomore Liz Miles will once against provide quality depth…newcomer Jesse DeWaters comes onboard after leading Niagara County Community College to a 25-5 record and an appearance in the NJCAA Tournament last year…she averaged 11.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and a team-high 7.0 assists for the Thunderwolves last year…she also ranked second in three-pointers (37), blocks (54) and steals (71)…the Wildcats opened the 2015-16 season by winning two of their first three games, but are winless in their last eight contests…Daemen is coming off league losses to St. Thomas Aquinas (81-54) and Mercy (70-69) this past weekend…DC has also suffered league losses to District of Columbia (66-60), Dowling (74-68) and Bridgeport (70-68 OT)…Saba has scored in double figures in eight of the last nine games and is averaging a team-high 13.7 points…she also leads the team in blocks (22) and steals (18) and ranks second in rebounding (6.3 rpg)…she scored a season-high 23 points in a recent 87-84 OT loss to Edinboro…Stilwell scored a season-high 17 points in the loss to Dowling and is averaging 10.6 points…she leads the team in three-pointers (21) and assists (38)…additional production has come from Galus (9.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg), McDonell (9.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg), Heinold (6.7 ppg, 14 3pt fgs) and Colon (6.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg)…McDonell has scored in double figures in six of the last eight games, including a season-high 16-point effort in a non-league loss to Le Moyne…Galus scored a season-high 19 points in a non-league loss to St. Michael's.
THE REDHAWKS (12-1; 4-1 ECC): Roberts Wesleyan returns seven players and three starters from last year's team that finished 20-7 overall and 14-5 in the ECC…RWC was voted third in the 2015-16 ECC preseason poll…the Redhawks opened the year with eight-straight wins and enter Tuesday's game riding a four-game winning streak…RWC swept a weekend series with Mercy (74-48) and St. Thomas Aquinas (60-49) this past weekend…additional ECC wins have come over Bridgeport (CCC) and Dowling (CCCC)…RWC's lone loss thus far was a three overtime thriller against District of Columbia (97-90) on Dec. 11…the Redhawks are ranked third in the latest D2SIDA East Region poll…RWC is averaging a league-high 75.8 points per game and four starters are averaging in double figures…senior forward Samantha Courtney has posted seven double-doubles and leads the team in scoring (17.2 ppg), rebounding (11.9 rpg) and blocks (34)…she totaled 19 points, six rebounds and five blocks in the win over STAC this past weekend…sophomore Brooke Fields posted back-to-back 16-point efforts this past weekend and is averaging 15.4 points and 3.6 assists…sophomore Lucy Covley has canned a league-high 44 three-pointers and is averaging 12.2 points and 6.2 rebounds…sophomore Necedah James (11.6 ppg, 3.6 apg) and freshman Taylor Bynoe (6.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg) have also produced.
THE SERIES vs. RWC: Tuesday's game will mark the 58th all-time meeting between the two former American Mideast Conference (AMC) rivals…Daemen has prevailed in 13 of the last 19 meetings and owns a 39-18 advantage in the all-time series…the rivals split their two meetings last year…Daemen rallied for a 70-69 win 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 assists…the Redhawks answered with a 60-55 win at RWC…Necedah James paced a balanced RWC attack with 14 points, while Sell added nine points, 11 rebounds and four assists…Britton (15 pts, 6 rebs) and Saba (12 pts, 8 rebs, 4 stls) led the Wildcats.
SHOOTING STAR: Senior Raeann Stilwell entered the 2015-16 season ranked among Daemen's all-time leaders in several categories…she will be playing in her 100th career game Tuesday and currently ranks 11th in career points (1,240), 10th in career points per game (12.5), second in career three-pointers made (226), second in career three-pointers attempted (709) and 11th in career three-point field goal percentage (.319)…she set the school-record for three-pointers made (77) and attempted (252) in a season as a sophomore and has become the first player in program history to record 60 or more three-pointers in three-straight seasons…Jessica Ruddell (2001-05) owns the school-record for career three-pointers made (242) and career three-point field goals attempted (721).
JUNIOR MINTS: Juniors Natalie Galus and Leah McDonell have been a constants in the starting lineup since their freshman season…both players have started all 66 games over the past three seasons…Galus has totaled 679 points, 452 rebounds and 131 blocks over her three-year career and ranks seventh among Daemen's all-time leaders in career blocks…McDonell has racked up 474 points, 295 rebounds and 146 assists.
SUDDEN IMPACT: Sophomore Sarah Saba is coming off an impressive rookie season in which she scored in double figures 24 times and was a six-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection…she led the team and ranked first among ECC freshman in scoring (14.2 ppg) and also ranked second on the team and led all ECC freshmen in rebounding (7.2 rpg)…she has scored in double figures eight times this season and is averaging a team-high 13.7 points.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats return to action this weekend when they travel to Long Island for ECC games against LIU-Post Friday (Jan. 15) and New York Institute of Technology Sunday (Jan. 17)…click HERE for the complete 2015-16 schedule.
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.
