THE LEAD: The Daemen College women's basketball team hosts Long Island University—Post (Feb. 19) and New York Institute of Technology (Feb. 21) in East Coast Conference games this weekend…it will mark the final two home games of the season…Daemen has won five of its last eight games and remains in contention for a spot in the upcoming ECC Championship tournament…the Wildcats are within one win of sixth place in the ECC standings…the top six teams advance to the ECC Tournament at the end of the regular season.
Friday, Feb. 19, 2016
LIU Post at Daemen - 6 p.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, N.Y.
DC ROSTER / DC STATS / LIUP ROSTER / LIUP STATS / LIVE STATS / VIDEO
Sunday, Feb. 21, 2016
New York Tech at Daemen - 1 p.m.
Lumsden Gymnasium, Amherst, 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 466-265 (.637) 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 (8-14; 6-10 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…sophomore Sarah Saba is coming off an impressive rookie season in which she was a six-time ECC Rookie of the Week selection and averaged 14.2 points and 7.2 rebounds…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…the Wildcats are 5-3 over their last eight games and had a four-game winning streak snapped following a 76-63 loss to nationally-ranked Roberts Wesleyan this past Wednesday…Saba has scored in double figures in 18 of the last 20 games and is averaging a team-high 16.3 points…she is also tied for the team lead in rebounding and leads the team in blocks (41)…she scored a career-high 26 points in a recent 76-68 win over LIU Post and totaled 25 points and 10 rebounds in an 88-70 win over Bridgeport two weeks ago…McDonell has scored in double figures in seven of the last eight games and is contributing 9.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game…she scored a season-high 19 points in a 79-73 OT win at St. Thomas Aquinas last week…Stilwell scored a team-high 16 points in the loss to RWC this week and is averaging 8.4 points and 4.7 rebounds…she leads the team in three-pointers (34) and assists (87)…Galus equaled her season-high for points (19) in the win over Bridgeport two weeks ago and is averaging 8.5 points and 5.8 rebounds with 31 three-pointers…additional production has come from Colon (7.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and Heinold (4.9 ppg, 19 3pt fgs)…Miles posted back-to-back 13-point efforts in the recent wins over Bridgeport and St. Thomas Aquinas and is averaging 5.4 points and 5.6 rebounds off the bench.
ECC HONORS FOR SABA: Sophomore Sarah Saba was recently named ECC Player of the Week after averaging 23.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game during the wins over Dowling and Bridgeport.
THE PIONEERS (5-20; 5-12 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 had a three-game winning streak snapped following a double overtime loss (95-87) to Molloy last week and are coming off back-to-back losses to Queens (67-50) and New York Tech (74-67)…senior center Nyasia Davis, a first-team All-ECC pick last year, is averaging a team-high 11.7 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game…she netted 19 points in loss to NYIT earlier this week…senior Khea Gibbs scored a season-high 23 points in the 2OT loss to Molloy last week and is averaging 8.2 points…additional production has come from senior guard Jalyn Brown (7.1 ppg, 29 3pt fgs), junior forward Melsha Messam (6.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and freshman guard Shannon Doyle (5.9 ppg, 35 stls)…Brown totaled 15 points and seven rebounds in a recent win over Dowling.
THE SERIES vs. LIU POST: Friday's game will mark the sixth all-time meeting between Daemen and LIU Post…LIUP has prevailed in four of the previous five meetings…Daemen recorded its first-ever win over the Pioneers earlier this year on Long Island…Sarah Saba scored a career-high 26 points to lead the Wildcats to a 76-68 win…Nyasia Davis paced the Pioneers with 20 points and seven rebounds…the Pioneers swept the season series last winter…the Pioneers posted a 79-69 victory at Daemen…Chelsea Williams led the way with 21 points, while Davis totaled 11 points and 17 rebounds…Shy Britton and 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 (22-6; 16-1 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 plays at Roberts Wesleyan Friday before taking on Daemen Sunday…NYIT is ranked third in the latest NCAA Division II East Region poll…the Bears had a 16-game winning streak snapped and suffered their first ECC setback of the year following a 66-59 loss to Molloy last weekend…NYIT rebounded with a 74-67 win over LIU Post this past Tuesday…senior G/F Dina Ragab, a first-team All-ECC pick the last two seasons, tops the list of returning players…she had 19 points in the win over LIU Post earlier this week and leads the team in scoring (16.5 ppg) and blocks (46)…she also ranks second in rebounding (8.0 rpg)…juniors Shanice Allen (10.4 ppg, 42 3pt fgs, 41 stls), Shannon Duer (11.4 ppg, 11.9 rpg) and Julie Williams (9.3 ppg, 43 3pt fgs) and sophomore Nina Vukosavljevic (10.0 ppg, 5.6 apg, 63 stls) have also produced…Vukosavljevic totaled 18 points and seven assists in a recent 78-72 win over District of Columbia.
THE SERIES vs. NYIT: Sunday's game will mark the sixth all-time meeting between Daemen and New York Tech…NYIT has prevailed in each of the previous five meetings…NYIT posted a 76-48 victory over the Wildcats earlier this year on Long Island…Dina Ragab led the way with 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists…Sarah Saba scored 18 points for Daemen…the Bears swept the season series last winter…NYIT posted a 71-67 victory at Daemen…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 has played in 110 games over her career and currently ranks ninth in career points (1,322), second in career three-pointers made (239) and first in career three-pointers attempted (761)…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).
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 77 games over the past three seasons…Galus has totaled 766 points, 524 rebounds and 148 blocks over her three-year career and ranks sixth among Daemen's all-time leaders in career blocks…McDonell has racked up 592 points, 351 rebounds and 183 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 17 times this season and ranks sixth among the ECC scoring leaders (16.3 ppg)…she has played in 51 career games and has totaled 770 points (15.1 ppg) and 340 rebounds (6.7 rpg).
DID YOU KNOW?: Daemen leads the ECC and ranks fourth among all Division II schools in defensive rebounds per game…the Wildcats are averaging 33 defensive rebounds per game and trail only Southwest Oklahoma (35), California Baptist (34) and West Liberty (34) and in this category nationally…Daemen also leads the ECC and ranks 12th nationally in total rebounds per game (44.8)…the Wildcats also lead the ECC in assists per game (14.5), blocked shots per game (4.3), three-point field goals made per game (6.8) and total three-point field goals attempted (532).
WHAT'S NEXT: The Wildcats close out the regular season next weekend when they travel to Molloy (Feb. 26) and Queens (Feb. 28) for ECC games.
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.
