BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles came out on top in a Monday night nail-biter 63-57 over the Binghamton Bearcats in the Events Center.

“This is a really tough place to play,” head coach Kendra Faustin said after the game.  “Their crowd is awesome and a road victory is tough to come by.  We’re certainly excited about that.”

The Purple Eagles (4-4) had the lead throughout most of the game but the Bearcats (1-9) were able to climb back within a single possession, 52-50, with just over two minutes left in regulation.  Forced to foul, Binghamton sent Chanel Johnson, who had just checked into the game, to the line and the junior didn’t miss, giving Niagara back the multiple-possession lead 54-50.

“We didn’t particularly play well tonight so I was really proud down the stretch that we handled what we needed to do,” Faustin said.  “Chanel Johnson came in and made two huge free throws right off the bench.  She came in the game, she got fouled, made two free throws, and that was huge for us.”

Niagara went on to hit 9-of-12 chances from the free throw line during the final two minutes to come out with a 63-57 victory to get back to .500 on the season.

Lauren Gatto scored a team-high 14 points as the Mayfield, Ohio native connected on 7-of-13 opportunities.  Kayla Stroman scored 12 to put up double-digits in all three career games against the Bearcats.  Meghan McGuinness led the team with eight rebounds.

“We expect a lot from Lauren so I think that’s why [her 14 points] seem quiet.” said Faustin.  “When she does it and we look at her line and she’s shooting over 50 percent from the field again, we realize how good she is.  That is certainly a positive.”

“We were focused on rebounding after our last outing and I thought our post players did a great job keeping their post off of the boards.  Our guards cleaned that up and went and got some rebounds.”

The beginning of the first half was just as tight as the end of the second, with both teams playing tight and not letting the other get away.  The score was tied at 10-10 before three-pointers from Kelly Van Leeuwen and Stroman opened the game up by jump-starting a 12-0 run that gave NU a 22-10 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the half.  

From there, Niagara was able to maintain the lead by keeping Binghamton’s outside chances to a minimum, forcing the Bearcats to shoot 1-for-5 from beyond the arc, to head into halftime with a 35-22 lead.  Niagara’s depth was key to its first-half success with 13 points coming off the bench, as opposed to Binghamton’s two.

The score tightened up after the teams came out of the halftime break.  Binghamton put together a 19-4 run to briefly take the lead 42-41.  Niagara responded with layups from Shy Britton and Gatto to take the lead back for good. 

They would finish the game shooting 15-for-20 from the free-throw line.  Stroman connected on 5-of-8 chances while Van Leeuwen went a perfect 4-for-4. 

“On the road with our backs against the wall we took care of what we needed to take care of, and that’s a really good lesion for us right now.”

The Purple Eagles are back on the court next Sunday when they host Colgate at 7 p.m. in the Gallagher Center.  Tickets information can be found by clicking here.