BUFFALO, N.Y. – Niagara fell to Big Four rival, the Buffalo Bulls, 87-62 on Tuesday night at Alumni Arena.  Jennifer McNamee (Oxford, Ohio) led the Purple Eagles (1-3) with 21 points and senior Erika Harris (Gahanna, Ohio) grabbed a double-double.

“We weren’t sharp tonight,” head coach Kendra Faustin said. “We had too many turnovers, were very passive on defense and against a team like Buffalo, which moves the ball really well, you cannot play like that.”

The turnover bugged hit again for the Purple Eagles. The Bulls scored 37 of their 87 points off of 26 Niagara turnovers.

Buffalo (3-2) used a 22-3 run in the first half to break an 8-8 tied after both teams exchanged baskets early in the game. Niagara was unable to cut the lead to fewer than 19 points for the rest of the game.

Buffalo’s tandem of Kourtney Brown and Jessica Fortman gave the Purple Eagles trouble throughout the game. Brown scored a game-high 16 points in 25 minutes and the two combined for 27 points and 14 rebounds

Harris scored 10 points and brought down 11 rebounds for her first-career double-double, one game after teammate Kristina Walton (Cleveland, Ohio) completed the same feat.  

Liz Flooks (White Plains, N.Y.) scored a season-high 12 points and McNamee’s five 3-pointers were her second most 3-pointers in her career.

Niagara will travel to Pittsburgh, Pa. for a night game against Duquesne on Friday at 7 pm.