POUGHKEEPSIE., N.Y. – The Niagara University Purple Eagle women’s basketball team put up a strong game against the No.25 Marist Red Foxes, but ultimately fell in defeat 66-51 in front of 2,284 at the McCann Center on Friday night. The loss drops the Purple Eagles to 5-20 (3-11 MAAC).

Despite the loss, head coach Kendra Faustin was pleased with the defense effort her team put forth tonight.

“We played strong defense tonight,” stated Faustin. “To be able to hold a team of their caliber to under 70 points is a good thing, taking into consideration their offensive capabilities.”

The first half started out just the way Niagara wanted it to, as Rachele Fitz missed a jumper and Sara Prybyl (Mars, Pa.) took it the other way to put Niagara up 2-0. The lead would not last long, as Marist would outscore the Purple Eagles 21-5 over the next ten minutes to take a 21-7 lead halfway through the first half. Niagara would keep chipping away at the lead, but found themselves down 34-21 at the half to a potent Red Fox team. Cathy Rutter (Old Bridge, N.J.) led all Niagara scorers with six first half points, while Jen McNamee (Oxford, Ohio) added five points.

The second half continued to see Niagara chip away at Marist’s lead, as a layup by Liz Flooks (White Plains, N.Y.) made the score 39-29 just three minutes in. That would be the closest the Purple Eagles would get the rest of the way, as Marist had an aswer for everything Niagara tried.The Marist lead would swell to 19 points with two minutes left to go which would be brought down by a 4-0 run to end the game.

Flooks finished with 11 points and nine rebounds, while Sarah Wilson (Saint Catherines, Ont.) scored 10 points and freshman Jacy Schulz (Middleburg Heights, Ohio) scored her first four points as a Purple Eagle.

The Purple Eagles travel to take on Manhattan for a Sunday tilt which begins at 2 p.m.