Edinboro Fighting Scots (0-2) vs. Daemen (2-0)
DATE: Wednesday, November 16, 2016
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
LOCATION: McComb Fieldhouse
CITY: Edinboro, Pa.
LIVE STATS
GAME STORY
Edinboro will tipoff the home portion of their schedule on Wednesday night, hosting Daemen for a non-conference affair. The Fighting Scots are in search of their first win of the season after dropping a pair of games at the Carol Eckman Memorial over weekend. Second-half struggles stung the Fighting Scots in the season-opening loss to Wheeling Jesuit and a sharp-shooting Glenville State squad handed Edinboro their second loss of the season on Sunday.
The 0-2 start is just the second time the Fighting Scots have started a season with two losses under head coach
Stan Swank and the first time since the 1995-96 season. Edinboro is looking to avoid the first 0-3 start in the Swank Era on Wednesday night.
Despite a trio of Fighting Scots scoring in double-figures, including a career-high 11 points from
Whitney Allen, Edinboro was unable to overcome second-half struggles as they dropped their season opener, 63-59, to Wheeling Jesuit. Edinboro made 7-of-28 shots in the second half, including 2-of-13 3-pointers and 5-of-11 from the charity stripe. After winning the turnover margin, 14-11, in the first half, the numbers were flipped as the Fighting Scots turned the ball over 14 times in the second half. To go along with her career-high in points, Allen also drained her first career 3-pointer in the contest. First-year Fighting Scot
Ciara Rosten made an impressive Edinboro debut following her transfer from Division I UMass. Rosten finished with 11 points and five rebounds.
On the final day of the Carol Eckman Memorial Tournament, the Fighting Scots, playing without starter and team captain
Whitney Allen after in injury, were unable to overcome 3-point shooting of Glenville State. The Lady Pioneers finished the contest hitting 14-of-28 3-pointers, the most 3-pointers against the Fighting Scots since the 2012-13 season when the Lady Pioneers also connected on 15 3-pointers in a victory. For the second day in a row, Edinboro featured three scorers in double-figures.
The Fighting Scots square off with Daemen in a non-conference battle for the second season in a row. Edinboro emerged victorious in last season's overtime meeting, 87-84. Many of the faces taking the court for Daemen remain the same, including first-team All-ECC pick Sarah Saba, who totaled 23 points against the Fighting Scots, but there will be a new face on the end of the bench. First-year head coach Jenepher Banker is now in control of the Wildcats coach and is off to a good start as Daemen concluded the opening weekend at 2-0, the first time they've started 2-0 since the 2013-14 season.
Daemen won their first two contests of the season, both by double-digits. They opened up the 2016-17 season by defeating Felician, 65-54, and followed that up with a 76-54 victory against Nyack.
For the first time in four years, Edinboro takes the hardwood without
Aignee' Freeland or
Lauren Hippo. The departed seniors are both members of the 1,000-point club and were staples of Fighting Scots' squads that made the PSAC Tournament each of the past four years. Edinboro will rely on a pair of all-conference honorees a year ago.
Katie Fischer was a second team All-PSAC West selection, while
Michelle Jahn was named the PSAC West Freshman of the Year. The Fighting Scots were picked third in the West in the preseason coaches' poll.
The 2016-17 roster features a trio of Division I transfers in 6'2" forward/center
Ciara Rosten (Massachusetts), junior guard
JaVannah Jackson (Bethune Cookman), and redshirt sophomore guard
Jontay Walton (UMass Lowell).
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. DAEMEN
Edinboro leads 7-1
Last Meeting: December 12, 2015 – Edinboro 87, Daemen 84 (OT)
In a game that featured 22 lead changes and 21 ties, the Fighting Scots needed several late-game heroics to pull out the road win.
Nicole Johnson's rebound and basket with nine seconds remaining in overtime allowed Edinboro to capture an 87-84 win in at Daemen. Both teams were in foul trouble the majority of the game as Edinboro made 25-of-39 shots from the free throw line while Daemen was 22-of-35.
Katie Fischer led Edinboro with a career-high 31 points on 9-of-20 shooting, including hitting a team-high 4-of-7 3-pointers, and was 9-of-11 from the line.
Aignee' Freeland added 22 points and six rebounds. Johnson's game winning bucket were her only points of the game. Three Wildcats scored in double figures, led by Sarah Saba with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Reeann Stilwell and Natalie Galus totaled 16 and 15 points, respectively.
The Head Coaches
Edinboro: Stan Swank (Purdue '76, 533-294, 30th year)
Like a fine wine,
Stan Swank is getting better with age. As he enters his 30th season as Edinboro's women's basketball head coach, he has guided the Fighting Scots to six of the best seasons in school history the last six years. All told, Edinboro is an incredible 145-37 the last six seasons. Of course, winning is nothing new to Swank, as the winningest coach in Fighting Scot women's basketball history has had 23 winning seasons during his 29-year tenure while compiling a 533-294 overall mark. Add in four seasons as the head coach at Parkland Junior College, and Swank has 637 career collegiate victories. All told, he has had four PSAC championship teams and ten teams selected for the NCAA Division II Tournament. Edinboro women's basketball has enjoyed 14 20-win seasons, with Swank directing the Fighting Scots to 12 of those. All told, ten of his Fighting Scot editions have reached the NCAA Division II playoffs, with Edinboro qualifying for the PSAC postseason tournament 21 times. On ten of those occasions, the Fighting Scots have advanced to the championship game, winning the PSAC title in 1989-90, 2010-11, 2011-12, and 2013-14. In the NCAA Division II Tournament, Swank has guided Edinboro to the Final 32 four times, the Sweet 16 three times, and the Elite Eight twice. Swank enters the 2016-17 campaign tied for 11th among active Division II coaches in wins with 533. That figure is tied for 22nd all-time in overall victories. He ranks 37th in active career winning percentage (.646). Swank is the longest-tenured coach in the PSAC and is also the all-time leader in wins among PSAC coaches. Swank picked up career win number 500 on December 17, 2014, handing Millersville a 65-58 defeat.
Daemen: Jenepher Banker (Iowa State '88, 2-0, 1st year, 69-61, 6th year overall)
Jenepher Banker was named the fourth coach in Daemen's women's basketball history earlier this spring. Banker comes to Daemen with nearly 30 years of coaching experience. Her first collegiate experience came as an assistant coach at Iowa State University. Banker served as the head coach at Penn State-Behrend from 1988-1993. While there, she led the Lions to a 67-61 overall record. Her 1991-92 team went 23-4, winning the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Region championship. That season, her team garnered Penn State-Behrend's first-ever national ranking in any sport. She still ranks second all-time in coaching victories, and was inducted into Penn State-Behrend's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994. Banker was a 1,000-point scorer at Springfield College during her playing days. She inherits a team that went 9-17 overall in the 2015-16 season and finished eighth in the conference.
S
COUTING THE FIGHTING SCOTS
PROBABLE STARTERS
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Katie Fischer (G, 5'7", Sr.) – is in her second season at Edinboro after transferring from Mercyhurst. She was a second team All-PSAC selection last year after starting all 30 games last season, finishing finished second on the team in scoring at 16.0 ppg. and led the PSAC in assists with 188, good for sixth in Division II and tied for the sixth-most in a season at Edinboro. She also made 51-of-156 3-pointers. Fischer recorded five double-digit assist games last season and posted six double-doubles.
Michelle Jahn (G, 5'8", So.) – the reigning PSAC Freshman of the Year emerged as a standout early last season. The 5'8" guard from nearby General McLane High School went on to average 12.6 ppg. while making 71 of 174 3-pointers. She ranked second in the PSAC in 3-point percentage (.408) and third in 3-pointers made. Her 71 3-pointers tied Hippo for the fifth-most in a season while her .408 3-point percentage tied Hope Mancini for the seventh-highest percentage in a season. Jahn recorded a 3-pointer in all but six contests last season.
Ciara Rosten (F, 6'2", Jr.) – is in her first season as a Fighting Scot after transferring from Division I UMass. Rosten finished as the team's leading scorer in both games over the weekend after she totaled 11 points in her Edinboro debut against Wheeling Jesuit and 15 points in Sunday's contest against Glenville State. She had a complete game against the Lady Pioneers, finishing with eight boards, three steals, two blocks, and two assists to go along with her team-high 15 points. In her freshman year at UMass, the 6'2'' forward played in 28 games, averaging 2.5 ppg. and 2.9 rpg. in 12 mpg.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
A year ago, Daemen finished 9-17 overall and 7-13 in East Coast Conference play, which placed them eighth in the league standings. The Wildcats were projected to finish ninth in the ECC this season in the coaches' preseason poll. Daemen put a scare into Division I Canisius in a preseason exhibition game earlier this month. The Wildcats led 67-65 with just over six minutes remaining, but ultimately fell to Canisius, 80-73.
The Wildcats are off to a 2-0 start after picking up a pair of victories in the ECC – CCAC Challenge this past weekend. Daemen won both contests by double-digits, first defeating Felician, 65-54, in the season opener and following that up with a 76-54 victory against Nyack.
Daemen returns six players who averaged double-figure minutes last season, including leading scorer and first-team All-ECC pick Sarah Saba, who averaged 16.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Saba is the first Wildcat to ever earn first-team All-ECC honors. She scored a team-high 23 points in last year's overtime loss to the Fighting Scots.
Senior Leah McDonell also returns after averaging 9.5 ppg. last season, ranking second on the team. The 5'6'' guard is coming off a career-day in the season opening win over Felician. McDonell scored a career-high 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting.
PROBABLE STARTERS
|
|
|
|
|
|
PPG |
RPG |
| F |
2 |
Jordan Heinold |
6-0 |
Fr. |
Hamburg, N.Y. |
5.0 |
5.5 |
| F |
33 |
Natalie Galus |
5-11 |
Sr. |
Hamburg, N.Y. |
11.0 |
6.0 |
| G |
11 |
Sarah Saba |
6-0 |
Jr. |
Lancaster, N.Y. |
14.0 |
11.0 |
| G |
12 |
Carina Pringle |
5-6 |
Fr. |
Rochester, N.Y. |
8.0 |
6.5 |
| G |
25 |
Leah McDonell |
5-6 |
Sr. |
N. Tonawanda, N.Y. |
19.0 |
5.5 |
NEXT FOR THE FIGHTING SCOTS: Saturday, November 19 at Millersville & Sunday, November 20 at Shippensburg
