AMHERST, N.Y. – Sophomore Sarah Saba (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster) stuffed the stat sheet with 25 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals to lead the Daemen College women's basketball team to an 88-70 victory over the University of Bridgeport here today. Daemen has now won four of its last seven games and improved to 6-13 overall and 4-9 in the East Coast Conference. Bridgeport dropped to 7-14 overall and 5-8 in the league.
The win moves Daemen 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.
Saba, who came one point shy of equalling her career-high for points, connected on 8-of-16 shots and registered her second double-double of the season. Junior Natalie Galus (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) went 3-for-6 from three-point land and added 19 points and six rebounds. Sophomore Liz Miles (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) once again made big contributions off the bench and finished with a career-high 13 points and seven rebounds. Leah McDonell (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Cardinal O'Hara) and senior Somara Colon (Bronx, N.Y./Mott Haven Village Prep) both scored nine points for the hosts, while senior Raeann Stilwell (Cheektowaga, N.Y./St. Mary's of Lancaster) scored five points and dished out a career-high nine assists.
Sophomore Aurelle LeBlanc-Florent (Longueuil, Quebec) went 3-for-6 from three-point land and totaled 17 points and five assists to pace the Purple Knights. Junior Evelyn Ovner (Vallentuna, Sweden) added 16 points, while freshman Kadijah Dickson (Queens, N.Y.) chipped in 15 points off the bench.
Daemen took a 12-8 lead following a three-point play by McDonell midway through the first quarter, but Bridgeport responded with nine unanswered points and the Purple Knights took a 17-12 lead following a three-pointer by LeBlanc-Florent with 45 seconds left in the quarter. Daemen answered with a three-pointer by junior Jesse DeWaters (Lockport, N.Y./Niagara County CC) and Bridgeport took a 17-15 lead into the second quarter.
Bridgeport built the lead back up to six points, 24-18, midway through the second quarter, but Saba scored 10 points during a 17-6 run by the Wildcats over the final 4:53 of the quarter and the hosts took a 35-30 lead into halftime.
Daemen drilled four three-pointers in the first five minutes of the third quarter en route to a 49-41 lead, and the hosts later took a 60-47 lead following a three-point play by Stilwell with 45 seconds left in the frame. The Wildcats took a 62-49 lead into the fourth quarter.
Daemen's lead was 10 points, 63-53, when the Wildcats got a three-pointer by junior Rachel Pawlak (North Tonawanda, N.Y./Niagara Wheatfield) and a layup by Miles for a 68-53 lead with 7:42 left to play. The teams traded baskets for the next four and a half minutes, before the Wildcats secured the win with six unanswered points. A three-point play by McDonell with 3:01 left capped the spurt and gave Daemen its largest lead of the game, 80-59.
Daemen shot 57-percent (17-for-30) from the field in the second half and finished 29-for-62 (.468) from the field overall. Bridgeport connected on 26-of-66 shots (.394) for the game. The Wildcats were a solid 23-for-29 from the charity stripe and made 7-of-20 from downtown. Bridgeport went 10-for-12 from the free throw line and made 8-of-22 from three-point land. Daemen finished with a commanding 42-34 edge in total rebounds, and the Wildcats equalled their season-high for assists in a game with 20.
Daemen returns to action Thursday (Feb. 11) when it travels to St. Thomas Aquinas for an ECC game at 5:30 p.m.
Follow Daemen College athletics on Twitter (@DaemenAthletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/daemencollegeathletics) to get live game updates and breaking news throughout the year.
