THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's basketball team travels to Long Island this weekend for East Coast Conference games at Long Island University - Post (Jan. 15) and New York Tech (Jan. 17).
Friday, Jan. 15, 2016
Daemen at Long Island University - Post - 5 p.m.
Pratt Recreation Center, Brookville, N.Y.
DC ROSTER / DC STATS / LIUP ROSTER / LIUP STATS / LIVE STATS / VIDEO
Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016
Daemen at New York Institute of Technology - 1 p.m.
Recreation Hall, Old Westbury, N.Y.
DC ROSTER / DC STATS / NYIT ROSTER / NYIT 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 460-261 (.638) 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 (2-10; 0-6 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 nine contests…six of the nine losses have been by six points or less, and two have come in overtime…Daemen is coming off a 73-69 loss at regionally-ranked Roberts Wesleyan this past Tuesday…DC has also suffered league losses to District of Columbia (66-60), Dowling (74-68) and Bridgeport (70-68 OT), St. Thomas Aquinas (81-54) and Mercy (70-69)…Saba has scored in double figures in nine of the last 10 games and is averaging a team-high 14.6 points…she also leads the team in blocks (23) and steals (18) and ranks second in rebounding (6.0 rpg)…she scored a season-high 24 points in the loss to RWC Tuesday…Stilwell scored a season-high 17 points in the loss to Dowling and is averaging 10.0 points…she leads the team in three-pointers (22) and assists (40)…additional production has come from Galus (9.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 16 3pt fgs), McDonell (8.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg), Heinold (6.6 ppg, 15 3pt fgs) and Colon (5.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg)…Miles has scored in double figures in each of the last two games and recorded a career-high 12 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in the loss to RWC.
THE PIONEERS (2-13; 2-5 ECC): LIU Post returns just five players and three starters from last year's team that finished 17-12 overall and 13-7 in the ECC…LIUP was voted fifth in the 2015-16 ECC preseason poll…the Pioneers snapped a seven-game losing streak following a 57-54 upset of defending league champion Queens last weekend and are coming off a 70-67 loss to regionally-ranked New York Tech this past Tuesday…LIUP's two league wins have come against Mercy (63-55) and Queens (57-54), while its five ECC setbacks have come against St. Thomas Aquinas (48-41), Bridgeport (58-52), Dowling (70-66 OT), Molloy (74-63) and NYIT (70-67)…senior center Nyasia Davis, a first-team All-ECC pick last year, is averaging a team-high 10.3 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game…she netted 18 points in the win over Queens…junior college transfer Janaysia James scored 13 points in a recent 61-54 loss to nationally-ranked Bentley and is averaging 7.5 points with 15 three-pointers…additional production has come from senior guards Khea Gibbs (6.0 ppg, 17 stls) and Jalyn Brown (5.3 ppg) and freshman guard Shannon Doyle (5.1 ppg, 17 3pt fgs)…Doyle had four three-pointers and 15 points in the loss to NYIT.
THE SERIES vs. LIU POST: Friday's game will mark the fifth all-time meeting between Daemen and LIU Post…LIUP has prevailed in each of the previous four meetings…the Pioneers swept the season series for the second-straight year last winter…the Pioneers posted a 79-69 victory at Daemen…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 completed the sweep with a 70-65 win on Long Island…Williams racked up 29 points, 11 redounds and five assists for the hosts, while Saba netted 20 points for Daemen.
THE BEARS (12-5; 7-0 ECC): New York Tech returns 11 players and all five starters from last year's team that finished 20-11 (13-7 ECC) and advanced to the championship game of the ECC Tournament…NYIT was voted second in the 2015-16 ECC preseason poll…NYIT hosts Roberts Wesleyan Friday before taking on Daemen Sunday…the Bears remained perfect in ECC play following a 70-67 win over rival LIU Post this past Tuesday and bring a seven-game winning streak into their game against RWC…NYIT is ranked ninth in the latest D2SIDA East Region poll…additional ECC wins have come over St. Thomas Aquinas (60-43), Dowling (76-53), Bridgeport (73-42), Mercy (75-55), Queens (65-60) and Molloy (70-56)…senior G/F Dina Ragab, a first-team All-ECC pick the last two seasons, tops the list of returning players…she had 22 points and 12 rebounds in the win over Queens and leads the team in scoring (17.2 ppg) and blocks (27)…she also ranks second in rebounding (8.1 rpg)…juniors Shanice Allen (11.4 ppg, 23 3pt fgs, 32 stls), Shannon Duer (11.3 ppg, 12.1 rpg) and Julie Williams (10.1 ppg, 29 3pt fgs) and sophomore Nina Vukosavljevic (8.9 ppg, 4.9 apg, 37 stls) have also produced…Williams drained three three-pointers and scored a team-high 17 points in the win over LIU Post.
THE SERIES vs. NYIT: Sunday's game will mark the fifth all-time meeting between Daemen and New York Tech…NYIT has prevailed in each of the previous four meetings…the Bears swept the season series for the second-straight year last winter…NYIT posted a 71-67 victory 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 completed the sweep with an 88-59 win on Long Island…Ragab paced a balanced attack with 18 points, nine rebounds, four assists and five steals…Shy Britton totaled 16 points, six rebounds and five blocks for the Wildcats.
SHOOTING STAR: Senior Raeann Stilwell entered the 2015-16 season ranked among Daemen's all-time leaders in several categories…she played in her 100th career game Tuesday and currently ranks 11th in career points (1,243), 10th in career points per game (12.4), second in career three-pointers made (227), second in career three-pointers attempted (714) and 11th in career three-point field goal percentage (.318)…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 67 games over the past three seasons…Galus has totaled 688 points, 458 rebounds and 132 blocks over her three-year career and ranks seventh among Daemen's all-time leaders in career blocks…McDonell has racked up 479 points, 302 rebounds and 150 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 nine times this season and ranks eighth among the ECC scoring leaders (14.6 ppg).
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats are idle until next weekend when they host Molloy (Jan. 22) and Queens (Jan. 24) in ECC action…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.
