NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - The Niagara women's basketball team was unable to hold off a late second half surge by the Iona Gaels in a 71-56 defeat on Monday afternoon at Hynes Center.

"We did some good things today," head coach Kendra Faustin said. "Chanel Johnson and Jess Flamm played inspirational. Noelle did a phenomenal job of running the team and it was a great step for a young player."

Career-high performances from sophomore forward Jessica Flamm and freshman guard Chanel Johnson were not enough to keep Niagara (1-14, 0-4 MAAC) from dropping its ninth straight game. Flamm had a career-high 17 points and eight rebounds, while Johnson led the Purple Eagles with 20 points and 11 rebounds for her first career double-double.

Flamm surpassed her previous career-high of 13 points by scoring 15 in the first half in an half dominated by runs. The Purple Eagles went on a 12-0 run to take a 22-10 lead with 8:20 left, before Iona (5-11, 1-3 MAAC) countered with a 14-2 run to tie the game at 24-24 with 2:22 remaining. Flamm and Johnson would combine for the last six points in the half as Niagara took a 30-24 halftime lead, while shooting 64.7 percent from the field.

The second half featured five lead changes between two teams who were looking for their first conference win of the season. Johnson put Niagara up 38-28 with 15:56 left on the clock, but the Gaels' Diana Hubbard made a 3-pointer at 10:42 to put them up 43-42 to create a back-and-forth contest.

Niagara held a 52-48 lead with six minutes remaining when the home team closed out the game on a 23-6 run. The difference in the game was turnovers. The Purple Eagles had a season-high 36 turnovers which led to 32 Iona points. NU's 51.2 field goal percentage was its highest since Jan. 4, 2009 (56.1).

"We did so many great things, but we were just exhausted at the end of game because we are short-handed," Faustin said. "They made shots late and we couldn't get rebounds."

Niagara is back home to host the Siena Saints on Friday for an 11 a.m. tipoff  in the Wendy's Kids' Day game.