THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's basketball team hosts Saint Thomas Aquinas College (Jan. 7) and Mercy College (Jan . 9) in East Coast Conference games this week.
Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016
St. Thomas Aquinas at Daemen - 6 p.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
DC ROSTER / DC STATS / STAC ROSTER / STAC STATS / LIVE STATS / VIDEO / GAME PROGRAM
Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016
Mercy at Daemen - 2 p.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
DC ROSTER / DC STATS / MC ROSTER / MC STATS / LIVE STATS / VIDEO / GAME PROGRAM
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 460-258 (.641) 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 (2-7; 0-3 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…DC was selected to the USCAA Tournament for the second time in three years and claimed its second national title following wins over The Apprentice School (82-72), Concordia-Alabama (63-57) and Berea (78-75)…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 six contests…Daemen is coming off a non-league loss at Saint Michael's College (75-58) last week…DC opened ECC play with a 66-60 loss to District of Columbia, and has also suffered league losses to Dowling (74-68) and Bridgeport (70-68 OT)…Saba has scored in double figures in six of the last seven games and is averaging a team-high 12.9 points…she also leads the team in blocks (20) and steals (16) and ranks second in rebounding (7.2 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 11.6 points…she leads the team in three-pointers (19), steals (16) and assists (31)…additional production has come from McDonell (10.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg), Galus (8.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and Heinold (7.7 ppg, 13 3pt fgs)…McDonell has scored in double figures in each of the last four games, including a 14-point effort against Dowling…Galus scored a season-high 19 points in the loss to SMC.
THE SPARTANS (9-3; 2-2 ECC): St. Thomas Aquinas returns 10 players and all five starters from last year's team that finished 14-17 overall (9-11 in the ECC) and advanced to the semifinals of the ECC Tournament…STAC was voted sixth in the 2015-16 ECC preseason poll…the Spartans opened the year with five-straight wins and have won three of their last four games…the Spartans are ranked ninth in the latest D2SIDA East Region poll…STAC is coming off back-to-back non-league wins over Southern Connecticut (57-42) and Pace (62-59)…the Spartans have posted ECC wins over LIU Post (48-41) and Molloy (62-53) and have suffered league losses to NYIT (60-43) and Queens (63-59)…sophomore guard Jenna Erickson, last year's ECC Rookie of the Year, has paced the Spartans thus far…she has scored in double figures in 10 of the 12 games games and leads the team in scoreng (15.3 ppg), three-point field goals (35) and assists (31)…she ranks second among the ECC leaders in three-pointers made…additional production has come from sophomore forward Adiya Henderson, sophomore guard Alex Bertolini and junior guard Samantha Burden…Henderson scored a season-high 16 points in the win over Pace and is averaging 9.8 points and 5.1 rebounds with 11 blocks…Bertolino is contributing 8.8 points, while is averaging 7.0 points with a team-high 21 steals.
THE SERIES vs. STAC: Thursday's game will mark the sixth all-time meeting between Daemen and St. Thomas Aquinas…the Spartans own a 4-1 advantage in the series…the Spartans swept the season series last winter…posted a 70-57 win at STAC…Jenna Erickson led the way with 23 points…Raeann Stilwell scored 16 points for Daemen…the Spartans completed the sweep with a 59-55 win at Lumsden Gymnasium…Erickson drilled six three-pointers and totaled 20 points, while Sarah Saba contributed a double-double (16 pts, 11 rebs) for Daemen.
THE MAVERICKS (3-8; 0-4 ECC): Mercy returns just eight players and three starters from last year's team that finished 9-19 overall and 2-18 in the ECC…Mercy was voted 11th in the 2015-16 ECC preseason poll…the Mavericks snapped a three-game losing streak following a 66-51 non-league win over Nyack this past Monday…Mercy has suffered league losses to LIU Post (63-55), Molloy (69-40), Queens (66-53) and NYIT (75-55)…the Mavericks play at Roberts Wesleyan Friday before squaring off against Daemen Saturday…senior forward Deasia Goodson contributed 18 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks in a 77-66 win over Chestnut Hill and leads the team in scoring (12.7 ppg), rebounding (11.1 rpg) and blocks (26)…she ranks third in rebounding and is tied for first in blocked shots among the ECC leaders…freshman Cynthia Perez (7.6 ppg, 11 3pt fgs), sophomore Latisha Clark (7.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and freshman Chi-la Bady (6.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg. 4.0 apg) have also produced.
THE SERIES vs. MERCY: Saturday's game will mark the fifth all-time meeting between Daemen and Mercy…Daemen swept the season series last winter and the Wildcats own a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series…DC posted a 70-64 win at Mercy last year…Natalie Galus led a balanced attack with 18 points…Tanayzha Augustine totaled 18 points and 17 rebounds for Mercy…Daemen completed the sweep with a 79-76 OT win at Lumsden Gymnasium…Raeann Stilwell hit the game-tying three-pointer at the end of regulation and scored the final six points in overtime…Sarah Saba (18 pts, 14 rebs), Shy Britton (18 pts, 6 blks) and Stilwell (17 pts, 10 rebs) paced the Wildcats.
SHOOTING STAR: Senior Raeann Stilwell entered the 2015-16 season ranked among Daemen's all-time leaders in several categories…she currently ranks 12th in career points (1,227), 10th in career points per game (12.6), second in career three-pointers made (224), second in career three-pointers attempted (695) and 10th in career three-point field goal percentage (.322)…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 64 games over the past three seasons…Galus has totaled 658 points, 439 rebounds and 129 blocks over her three-year career and ranks seventh among Daemen's all-time leaders in career blocks…McDonell has racked up 464 points, 285 rebounds and 141 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 six times this season and is averaging a team-high 12.9 points.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats return to action Tuesday (Jan. 12) when they travel to Roberts Wesleyan College for an ECC game…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.
