ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Purple Eagles finished their non-conference season dropping an 82-44 decision to Michigan on Saturday afternoon at the Crisler Center.

“I thought in the second half we did a much better job of being aggressive,” said head coach Kendra Faustin.  “I thought defensively we did a much better job of pressuring and did some switching stuff, so I’m certainly proud of that effort.  I thought we were really tentative early and they’re so good, play that zone, and they’re so big, it makes it really tough.”

Niagara (5-6) owned the early part of the second half.  Lauren Gatto hit all three field goals and both free throws while Shy Britton added a basket to lead the Purple Eagles on an 11-2 run to begin the second half to cut the deficit to 48-31.  Heading into the 12-minute media timeout, they had hit 54.2 percent (6-of-11) of their shots from the field.

Michigan (11-2) was able to turn things around throughout the half to come away with an 82-44 win.

Gatto led the Purple Eagles on offense for the ninth time this season with 12 points.  The junior went 5-for-6 from the field and 2-for-3 from the line.  Gatto also led the rebounding effort with four boards as eight players registered at least one rebound.

The Wolverines came out firing in the first half to take the lead but the Purple Eagles didn’t back down.  They kept the defensive pressure up and shot 40.9 percent (9-for-22) from the floor but would head into the break facing a 45-20 deficit.

This was the last contest of 2012 for the Purple Eagles who won’t be back on the court until Friday, January 4 when  MAAC play begins as Niagara hosts Iona at 7 p.m. in the Gallagher Center.