Senior Jessica Kemp led four Purple Eagles in scoring with 16 points on Saturday vs. Iona.

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Four Niagara University (16-7, 10-4) players scored in double figures to help the Purple Eagles defeat Iona College (6-16, 5-8), 67-60, Saturday afternoon in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference women’s basketball team.

Senior Jessica Kemp (Niagara Falls, Ont.) led Niagara with 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Junior Eva Cunningham (East Aurora, N.Y./Iroquois) had 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists, senior Ann Mimm (Girard, Pa.) 13 points and classmate Colleen Toetz (Parma, Ohio) added 10 points.

Niagara led at halftime, 29-27, after Mimm, Kemp and Toetz each scored seven points and Cunningham six. The Purple Eagles used a 14-7 run to take a 27-21 lead with 5:33 left in the half. Iona responded to close the period with a 6-2 run.

After Iona tied the score at 29, a Toetz layup with 18:08 left in the game gave Niagara the lead for good. The Purple Eagles used a 9-2 run, capped by freshman Jessi Tomasin’s (Hamilton, Ont.) three-pointer, to take a nine-point lead, 51-42 with 9:50 left.

The Gaels got within four points a few times, but Niagara used a 12-5 run down the stretch to keep Iona at bay.

Niagara shot 42.9 percent for the game, including 50 percent from the field and three-point range in the second half.

The Purple Eagles return to action Monday when it plays Fairfield at 6:15 p.m. in the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Conn.