Box Score

NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara women’s basketball team controlled play from the opening tip to the final buzzer  on Friday night as it topped Siena 87-66 to move into a tie for fifth place in the MAAC standngs with one game left to play.
 
The Purple Eagles (11-18, 8-9 MAAC) jumped on the Saints (10-16, 8-9 MAAC) when Shy Britton hit the opening basket less than a minute into the game to go up, 2-0. With just under five minutes played in the half, the Saints cut the deficit to a single point, 9-8, when Lilly Grenci, the Saints’ top scorer, made her only field goal of the half. That was the last time Siena would be within striking distance and from there it would be all Niagara for the rest of the half. 

The Purple Eagles went on a 34-7 run with the team shooting 6-for-11 from three-point range.  Meghan McGuinness made three of her four three pointers during the run while Kelly Van Leeuwen hit two straight. Niagara went into the half up 43-15 and leading in points off turnovers, 17-4, and shooting 58 percent from beyond the arc.
  
"When we played [at Siena] they were the aggressor, we let them do whatever they wanted," head coach Kendra Faustin said.  "We talked a lot this week about what success looked like to us and [being the aggressor] was a big part of it.  Making sure that we were being aggressive and smart withing our defensive concepts and principles but that we were doing that as hard and as aggressive as we could and I think we did that tonight."

Coming out of the break, Niagara bulit its lead to 33 points, 55-22, with the help of strong inside play of Lauren Gatto.  The sophomore finished with four rebounds and tied for the team-high in points with 14. 
 
The Purple Eagles were able to build their lead to 65-29 with less than 11 minutes remaining and began to go deep into their bench.  Siena never cut the lead to less than 18 points as Jess Flamm scored four points down the stretch and Van Leeuwen made 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch.
 
Niagara’s bench players would score 48 points for the Purple Eagles, accounting for over half of the team’s total points on the night.
 
With the lead at 19, freshman Gabby Baldasare hit two layups, one with just eight seconds left, to give Niagara its largest defeat over a MAAC opponent since a 71-51 victory over Rider on Jan. 12, 2007, as the Purple Eagles came away with an 87-66 win.
 
Friday’s game was also the largest victory for Faustin since her first game with Niagara on Nov. 10, 2007, a 78-39 victory over Colgate.
 
"[Van Leeuwen] did not have a turnover the entire game," Faustin said.  "A freshman point guard in what was a really big game for us, pressure wise, we had to perform tonight and I thought she handled it beautifully." 

McGuinness and Gatto led the team with 14 points each while Van Leeuwen led the squad in rebounds with six.  The fresman also added 13 points and was responsible with the ball. 
 
Niagara is back in action on Sunday for its senior day game against Manhattan at 2 p.m.