Box Score

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Niagara put together a stellar first half but it would stumble through the second half to allow the St. Bonaventure Bonnies to pull away with a 63-49 victory on Friday night in the 54^th meeting between the programs.
 
“We competed for most of the game,” head coach Kendra Faustin said.  “We missed some defensive assignments down the stretch and Bonaventure is a good team. We need to continue to work towards putting together a full game.”
 
After being in a seven-point hole to start the game, Niagara (3-7) went on an 11-4 run behind baskets from Val McQuade, Kayla Stroman and Chanel Johnson to tie the game at 11-11.
 
The Bonnies (9-1) were able to build up another lead but NU’s freshman led the charge with Meghan McGuinness hitting a pair of three-pointers while McQuade added five points.  The freshmen duo of McGuinness and McQuade combined for 13 points to lead Niagara into the half down, 37-28.
 
The performance in the first half would rank second on the season in shooting percentage (42.3 percent) and points scored (28) behind only Niagara’s win over Bucknell on Nov. 25.
 
Although they would control play until the first media timeout, the Purple Eagles couldn’t quite get into gear in the second half.  The team saw its shooting percentage dip to 38.1 percent and SBU would slowly pull away to a 63-49 victory.
 
McGuiness led the team in points with 10, while Lauren Gatto pulled in a team-high seven rebounds. Niagara outrebounded St. Bonaventure, 32-22.  From the line the Purple Eagles connected on 70 percent (7-10) of their chances
 
“We had some good contribution from our young players and did a good job on the boards,” said Faustin. 
 
The Purple Eagles are back in action when they make a post-Christmas trip to Syracuse to battle the Orange on Dec. 28 at 7 pm.