NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. - The Purple Eagles women’s basketball team dropped a very competitive MAAC matchup to Fairfield 81-65 in front of 478 fans at the Gallagher Center on Saturday afternoon. The setback puts Niagara at 3-13 (1-4 MAAC).

The young Purple Eagles showed poise today, even though it slipped through their fingers in the second half.

"We did a nice job of penetrating the paint early," stated head coach Kendra Faustin. "Against Fairfield we had a few lapses that really hurt us."

The first half was rather streaky, with the Stags jumping out to an 11-0 lead. Sarah Wilson (St.Catherines, Ont.) finally hit Niagara’s first field goal, coming five and a half minutes. Down 21-4, the Purple Eagles utilized a 9-0 run to make the score 21-13. Niagara utilized the inside game in the first half, outscoring Fairfield 14-4, but found themselves down at the half 30-22. Wilson had six first half points while Jen McNamee (Oxford, Ohio) added five of her 14 points in the first half.

The second half started on a 5-0 run for the Stags, capped off by a trey by Sabra Wrice. Just four minutes later Niagara would knock the lead down to five at 37-32, the closest they would come all afternoon. Fairfield then put the game out of reach via a 7-1 run to make the score 49-35. Fairfield kept pushing the tempo with double digit leads that Niagara simply couldn’t catch up to. Erika Harris (Gahanna, Ohio) scored 13 of her team-high 17 points in the second half.

Sabra Wrice led Fairfield with 23 points, as teammate Baendu Lowenthal netted 18 points. The Purple Eagles next take to the hardwood on Friday night as they take on rival Canisius. The game will be broadcasted nationally on ESPNU, which starts at 4:30 p.m.