ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Daemen College women's basketball team tipped off the 2016-17 season with a 65-54 victory over Felician University here tonight during opening round action of the ECC / CACC Challenge hosted by Roberts Wesleyan College.
It also marked the start of the Jenepher Banker era for Daemen women's basketball. Banker, who comes to Daemen with nearly 30 years of coaching experience at various levels, was named head coach this past April.
Senior Leah McDonell (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Cardinal O'Hara) paced the Wildcats with a career-high 23 points and a team-high five assists. McDonell connected on 8-of-14 shots and 6-of-8 free throws. Junior Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) hit several key shots late in the game and finished with 14 points and a team-high 13 rebounds. Senior Natalie Galus (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) added eight points.
Freshmen Jordan Heinold (Hamburg, N.Y./Immaculata), Carina Pringle (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) and Sydney Jones (Clifton Springs, N.Y./Midlakes) all made their collegiate debuts tonight. Heinold started and totaled three points and six rebounds. Pringle played 26 minutes off the bench and added four points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Jones started and chipped in two points.
Felician, a member of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, was led by junior guard Marta Moix (Madrid, Spain) who drilled four three-pointers and totaled 14 points and four steals.
The teams traded baskets early on and Daemen held a 10-9 lead when the Golden Falcons ran off nine unanswered points. Back-to-back three-pointers by Moix capped the run and gave Felician an 18-10 lead. McDonell ignited an 8-2 answer by Daemen with three-straight buckets and Felician took a 20-18 lead into the second quarter.
The Wildcats opened the second quarter with a 12-3 run that featured a three-pointer by senior Rachel Pawlak (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Niagara-Wheatfield). McDonell made one-of-two free throws with 4:44 left in the second quarter to cap the run and give the Wildcats a 30-23 lead. Felician scored five of the next seven points to cut the Daemen lead to two points, but the Wildcats closed the half with a layup by Jones and a three-pointer by Galus for a 37-30 halftime edge.
Daemen opened the second half with a three-pointer by McDonell and a fast-break layup by Saba for a 42-30 lead, and the Wildcats later took a 17-point lead, 49-32, following another fast-break layup by Saba with 4:33 left in the third quarter. The Wildcats went scoreless the rest of the quarter and the Golden Falcons closed out the frame with 10 unanswered points. A layup by Stone with 1:09 left in the frame capped the run and made the score 49-42 after three quarters.
Felician scored the first three points of the fourth quarter to make it a two possession game at 49-45, but a layup by Saba broke Daemen's scoreless skid at the 7:36 mark and she followed up with a conventional three-point play 30 seconds later for a 54-45 Daemen lead. Felician answered with a three-pointer by Moix, but that is as close as the Golden Falcons would come as Daemen secured the win with a 7-1 spurt. A three-pointer by Heinold off a feed from McDonell capped the run and gave the Wildcats a 61-49 lead with 3:16 left. Daemen maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
After drilling 13 three-pointers in an exhibition loss at Division I Canisius College two nights ago, the Wildcats struggled from long-range tonight and finished just 5-of-28 from downtown. Daemen shot 32-percent (24-75) from the field overall and canned 12-of-19 free throws. Felician shot 28-percent (20-72) from the field overall and made 7-of-24 three-pointers. The Golden Falcons made just 7-of-16 from the charity stripe. Felician collected 23 offensive rebounds and finished with a 59-49 advantage in total rebounds.
The tournament continues tomorrow at RWC and Daemen will face Nyack College at 3 p.m. Nyack defeated the Wildcats, 64-56, in the second round of the same tournament last year.
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