TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Daemen Wildcats (2-0, 0-0 ECC) vs. Lake Erie Storm (1-1, 0-0 G-MAC)
Friday, Nov. 17 |  8 p.m.
Rochester, N.Y. |  Voller Athletic Center

Daemen Wildcats (2-0, 0-0 ECC) vs. #2 Virginia Union Panthers (2-1, 0-0 CIAA)
Saturday, Nov. 18 |  2 p.m.
Rochester, N.Y. |  Voller Athletic Center

GAME LINKS
Live Stats (Both Days)
Watch Live on ECC Network (Both Days)
Game Day

THE LEAD
The Daemen College women's basketball takes part in the 2017 Redhawk Alumni Classic hosted by Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, N.Y. It will mark the second-straight weekend that Daemen has made the trek to RWC to take part in a tournament. Last weekend the Wildcats opened the 2017-18 season with wins over American International (70-61) and Nyack (67-48) during the East Region Tip-Off.

BANKER'S BACK
Jenepher Banker enters her second season as head women's basketball coach at Daemen after leading the Wildcats to an 11-15 overall record (8-10 ECC) last year. Banker arrived at Daemen with nearly 30 years of coaching experience at various levels, ranging from Division I to high school. Her first collegiate experience came as an assistant coach at Iowa State University (1986-88) and later as an assistant at Canisius College (1993-95). Between assistant coaching stops, Banker served as the head coach at Penn State-Behrend where she led the NCAA Division III program to a 67-61 overall record. Her 1991-92 team went 23-4, winning the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Region championship. That team garnered Penn State-Behrend's first-ever national ranking in any sport. She was inducted into Penn State-Behrend's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994. Banker ultimately settled at the high school level, coaching the varsity team at Grand Island High School from 1998-2013, building the Lady Vikings into a regional contender with seven Section VI championships, four appearances in the Far West Regional, and one appearance at the New York State final four.

DAEMEN QUICK FACTS
Daemen returns three starters and six players from last year's team that posted an 11-15 overall record and an 8-10 mark in the East Coast Conference. The Wildcats were voted eighth in the 2017-18 ECC preseason poll. Key losses include guard Leah McDonell and forward Natalie Galus. McDonell collected second-team All-ECC honors last year after ranking fifth among the ECC leaders in both scoring average (15.9) and field goal percentage (.498) and second in steals per game (2.6). She started 105 of a possible 107 games over her career and has racked up 1,005 points, 511 rebounds, 258 assists and 150 steals. Galus was a steady contributor over four-year career and totaled 965 points, 646 rebounds and 198 blocks over her career. She ranks fifth among Daemen's all-time leaders in career blocks and eighth in career three-point field goals made (144).

SUPERIOR SENIOR
Senior Sarah Saba tops the list of returning players. She became the first-ever women's basketball player from Daemen to earn first-team All-ECC honors as a sophomore and repeated the honor last year after averaging 15.9 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds. Saba scored her 1,000th career point during a loss to Saint Anselm last December—making her the 23rd player in program history to reach the 1,000 point plateau. She closed out her sophomore season as Daemen's leader in points (432), rebounds (165), blocks (44) and steals (36), and became the first player since former great Sarah Soroka in 2010-11 to lead the team in points, rebounding, blocks and steals. Saba has played in all 83 games over the past three seasons (79 as a starter) and has totaled 1,276 points (15.4 ppg), 579 rebounds (7.0 rpg), 121 blocks and 107 steals. She has scored in double figures in 69 of her 83 career games and is set to become just the 13th player in program history to score 1,300 points.

MORE EXPERIENCE
Senior Liz Miles and junior Erin Egan also return to the line up. Miles is entering her fourth season with the team and has played in 78 of a possible 83 games over the past three seasons. Egan played in 20 of 26 games last year and has appeared in 40 games over her two-year career. She totaled 11 points in 15 minutes off the bench in the win over AIC.

SEASONED SOPHOMORES
Sophomores Jordan Heinold, Carina Pringle and Sydney Jones all played significant minutes this season. Heinold started 21 games last year and averaged 26.2 minutes, 9.0 points and 5.2 rebounds with a team-high 44 three-pointers. She hit four three-pointers and scored 14 points in just 19 minutes off the bench in the win over Nyack. Pringle started 20 games and averaged 27.8 minutes, 6.3 points and 2.6 assists last year. She played 30 minutes in the win over AIC and scored nine points, Jones played in all 26 games (5 starts) and averaged 14.2 minutes and 4.7 points with 22 three-pointers. She started both games last weekend and contributed five points against AIC.

BACK FROM INJURY
Red-shirt senior Taylor Heinold and red-shirt freshman Tiara Filbert will look to contribute after missing the entire 2016-17 season due to injury. Heinold started all 26 games as a freshman in 2013-14 and averaged 9.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. She played in all 26 games two years ago (2015-16) after injuries limited her to just four games as a sophomore (2014-15). She averaged seven minutes a game off the bench last weekend and totaled eight points against AIC. Filbert missed her freshman season after suffering a pre-season knee injury. She was a first-team Class A all-state and Greater Rochester girls basketball Player of the Year selection following her senior year at Batavia High School. She averaged 24 minutes a game off the bench last weekend and scored a team-high 23 points over the two games.

THE NEWCOMERS
The 2017-18 roster features six newcomers—four freshmen and two transfers. Junior Erin Sinnott joins the Wildcats after playing the last two seasons at Division 1 University of Evansville. Sophomore Sarah Young, a former standout at Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart, was a member of the women's basketball team at St. Bonaventure University last year. Freshman guard Khamera Muhammad and freshman forward Caroline White both enjoyed outstanding high school careers in the Rochester area. Muhammad was a first-team All-Greater Rochester selection following her senior season at Rochester Early College. White played at Airport High School and was a first-team All-Greater Rochester selection as a junior and senior. Freshmen Autumn Buchsenschutz and Taylor Perry will provide depth at guard. Buchsenschutz was a three-time all-district selection at Port Allegany High School. Perry was a three-time all-conference pick at Ogdensburg Free Academy. Sinnott, Young and White were all in the starting lineup for both games last weekend. Sinnott registered a double-double (12 pts, 13 rebs) in the win over Nyack, while White scored a team-high 15 points in the season-opening win over AIC.

LAKE ERIE SCOUTING REPORT
Lake Erie is located in Painsville, Ohio and is in its first year as a member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference after spending seven years in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Storm was voted ninth in the 2017-18 G-MAC preseason poll. Veteran head coach Bob Booher returns 10 players and three starters from last year's team that finished 8-18 overall and 6-14 in the GLIAC. The Storm opened the 2017-18 season with a win over Tiffin (78-60) and a loss to Wayne State (76-54) last weekend during the G-MAC/GLIAC Challenge. Senior guard Kayla Gabor tops the list of returning players after averaging a league-best 19.1 points and collecting first-team All-GLIAC honors last year.  She also led the team in three-pointers (50), steals (50) and assists (3.1 apg) and ranked second in rebounds per game (6.5). The 5-10 guard opened the year with four three-pointers, 18 points and eight rebounds against Tiffin and registered nine points and 10 boards against Wayne St. Senior center Christine Dawson and sophomore guard Josie Chaddock also return to the starting lineup. Dawson averaged 12.1 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds last year, while Chaddock started all 26 games as a rookie and averaged 8.0 points.  Dawson had 16 points and 11 boards against Tiffin, while Chaddock scored 17 against Tiffin and a team-high 16 against Wayne St.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Daemen vs. Lake Erie: 3-0
Streak: Won 3
Last Meeting: Daemen 73, LEC 59 | Dec. 31, 2016 | Amherst, N.Y.
Recap

VIRGINIA UNION SCOUTING REPORT
Virginia Union is a member of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA). The Panthers posted a 28-5 overall record and a 13-3 mark in the CIAA last year. VUU has claimed the Atlantic Region championship of the NCAA Division II Tournament the last two seasons and advanced to the championship game of the NCAA Division II Tournament last year. Third year head coach AnneMarie Gilbert has quickly transformed a program that won just nine games the season before she arrived. She has led VUU to a 56-8 record over the past two seasons and has claimed the last two CIAA Coach of the Year awards. The Panthers were voted second in the 2017-18 CIAA preseason poll. VUU also entered the season ranked second in the WBCA Division II preseason poll. The Panthers opened the year with an 89-79 loss to Edinboro and an 87-43 win over Millersville during the Millersville Conference Challenge last weekend. The Panthers are coming off a 63-53 win over Charleston on Tuesday. Senior guard Jayda Luckie and senior forward Alexis Johnson were both named first-team All-CIAA last year and preseason All-CIAA this year. Luckie averaged 11.2 points last year, while Johnson averaged 12.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and a team-high 1.8 blocks. Senior forward Rachael Pecota totaled 23 points and 13 rebounds in the loss to Edinboro and is averaging 17.3 points and 10.7 rebounds. Freshman guard Shareka McNeill was named the CIAA Rookie of the Week after totaling 32 points during last weekend's tournament. Her twin sister Shameka McNeill had four three-pointers and a team-high 22 points against Millersville, while Johnson is averaging 10 points and 6.7 rebounds over the first three games. Luckie has not seen action yet this year.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Daemen vs. Virginia Union: 1-0
Streak: W 1
Last Meeting: Daemen 75, VUU 64 | Dec. 5, 1998 | Bloomsburg, Pa.

ON THE HORIZON
Wildcats begin a busy stretch of four games in nine days on Wednesday (Nov. 22) when it hosts Notre Dame College in a non-league game.