FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Despite rallying three times in the second half the Niagara women’s basketball team was edged 61-54 by the Fairfield Stags on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall.

The second half featured a resilient Purple Eagles team (7-8, 2-2 MAAC) that cut the deficit to a single point on three separate occasions before finally taking a lead.  Coming out of the break trailing Fairfield (9-2, 3-1 MAAC) 29-17, Niagara opened with a 9-0 run built on seven points by sophomore Val McQuade and three steals to get within 29-28.

“We turned it up in the defensive end and kept attacking in the offensive end,” head coach Kendra Faustin said after the game.  “We put some ball pressure on and we were doing a lot of switching.  That was the best ball-pressure we’ve applied all year and that’s what we’ll take away from this game.”

Twice Fairfield was able to build its lead to seven points – and twice Niagara cut it back down to one.  The first time it faced a 35-28 deficit Lauren Gatto hit six-straight points to bring the score to 35-34.  Facing a 41-34 score, NU slowly chipped away and Kayla Stroman hit a jumper to bring her team within a point before Kelly Van Leeuwen converted a layup with 10 minutes left to give Niagara its first lead since the opening minutes, 42-41.

The Purple Eagles had the game tied 53-53 with four minutes left but Fairfield was able to go on a run to come away with a 61-54 victory.

“I thought we showed great fortitude and intensity,” Faustin said.  “We really struggled in the first half and it’s easy to get discouraged.  We couldn’t throw the ball into the ocean in the first half; we were missing layups, couldn’t make open jump shots, but I was really proud in the second half.”

After turning in a 21.1 percent field goal percentage in the first half, the Purple Eagles turned things around in the second to go 14-for-28 (50.0 percent) and went 8-for-10 from the free-throw line on the afternoon.  Defensively they forced 21 turnovers and registered 13 steals (as opposed to 12 turnovers of their own). 

Gatto had team-highs in points and rebounds as the redshirt-junior scored 21 points and brought down eight rebounds, five of which came on the offensive end of the court.  McQuade and Stroman each had three steals while Stroman added a game-high six assists.

“Kayla and Lauren really dug in and contributed.  Shy Britton got some early foul calls but she kept on going and attacked offensively.  I thought Val shot the ball really well and was ready.  We have to do a better job coming out in the first half.”

After a slow start to the first half, the Purple Eagles were able to hit a few shots through the final six minutes of the half and went into the break trailing the Stags by 12 points, 29-17.  They found early success on defense as Niagara was able to register six steals, to Fairfield’s three, and forced 11 turnovers, as opposed to six of their own in the opening period.

Niagara is back in action when it hosts the Rider Broncs on Friday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Gallagher Center.  The game against the Broncs will be the second 'Free Friday' of the season and all fans will be admitted for free.