NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - The Niagara women's basketball team grinded out a 61-56 win over the Loyola Greyhounds on Monday night from the Gallagher Center. The Purple Eagles concluded their five-game homestand unbeaten for its longest winning streak in five seasons.

Niagara (10-13, 7-5 MAAC) shrugged off a sluggish shooting performance in the first half (20 percent) to shoot 48 percent in the second half to eventually pull away with the win. The story of the game was the Purple Eagles defense; NU forced 20 Loyola (10-13, 5-7 MAAC) turnovers to force at least 20 turnovers in four-straight games. Niagara has forced an average of 20 turnovers during this five-game winning streak.

"We are doing the little things," head coach Kendra Faustin said.  "We got our hands on a lot of balls, tipped a lot of passes and forced 20 turnovers."

With the score tied at 38-38 with 11 minutes remaining, NU went on a 13-3 run to break open the game. Senior Rachele Folino and Junior Liz Flooks, who finished the game as the top two scores for Niagara, combined for 10 of those 13 points. Flooks finished with a team-high 22 points and had nine rebounds, while Folino had 13 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Ali Morris chipped in with 10 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists. MAAC Rookie of the Week guard Kayla Stroman dished out seven assists and sophomore Meghan Waterman had five steals.

In the first half we did not move the ball well which contributed to our slow start," Faustin said. "In the second half, we were active on defense and offense and had great ball movement."

Niagara, who has won seven of its last eight games, remains in a third place tie with Manhattan. The Purple Eagles and Lady Jaspers will face each other in their next game on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. in Riverdale, N.Y.