Game Notes | Live Stats | Purple Eagles All-Access

Niagara women’s basketball hosts the Marist Red Foxes in a rematch of last year’s MAAC Tournament semi-finals Sunday afternoon in the Gallagher Center.

The Purple Eagles (8-8, 3-2 MAAC) will try and roll the momentum from Friday's come from behind win into Sunday as they look to turn the corner against the Red Foxes (10-6, 5-0 MAAC).  With a win, Niagara would move within a game of Marist for the conference lead.

Last season NU took Marist into overtime twice.  The two teams squared off in the third-to-last game of the season, in the Gallagher Center, and after the game was tied 64-64 at the final horn, the two teams went into a pair of overtimes before Marist came out on top 79-77.  In the conference semi-finals, four games later, the two teams found themselves tied 55-55 before Marist again won the game 68-54.

How to Tune In
Fans can watch and listen to the action on Purple Eagles All-Access with announcer Dave Universal.

Last Time Out
Kayla Stroman’s 13 points led the Niagara women’s basketball team to its second-straight win over the Rider Broncs 62-58 on Friday night.

Trailing 49-45 with less than eight minutes remaining, the Purple Eagles (8-8, 3-2 MAAC) went on an 8-2 run over the next three-and-a-half minutes to take a 53-51 lead with a Lauren Gatto jumper.  The Broncs (7-9, 2-3 MAAC) came back within a point, but Meghan McGuinness hit a three-pointer to maintain a four-point lead, 58-54.

With 20 seconds remaining Shy Britton drove to the basket, made a layup, and drew a foul as NU extended its lead to 60-56.  The junior missed the free throw but Gatto drew a foul on the following rebound attempt and hit 1-of-2 chances.  As time was running out, McGuinness was sent to the charity stripe with nine seconds left and hit 1-of-2 chances to give the Purple Eagles their final 62-58 victory.

On The Court: Marist Red Foxes (10-6, 5-0 MAAC)
The Red Foxes followed up a non-conference schedule that saw them go 5-6 by winning their first five MAAC games to bring their overall record to 10-6. 

Their first MAAC win came against Rider, 62-47.  The held on to beat Fairfield by five points, 61-56, before topping Loyola by 29 points, 67-38.  The final two wins came against Iona (69-55) and Canisius (51-41).

Marist is led offensively by Preseason All-MAAC second team member Elizabeth Beynnon’s 11.2 ppg.  On the board, Kristina Danella has a team-high 4.9 rpg. 

Preseason All-MAAC First Team member, Leanne Ockenden, has been held to 9.1 ppg and 3.6 rpg so far this season.

Don’t Take Your Coat Off
The two-game home stand this weekend will be the only two home games over the course of eight games.  The team already played at Saint Peter’s and Fairfield on the road before hosting Rider on Friday night.  After facing Marist, NU will be back on the road to take on Iona, Canisius, Loyola, and Rider.

“Yippee-ki-yay, Marist (Red) Foxes”
The last time Niagara topped Marist was on Jan. 31, 2010.  The Purple Eagles came out on top 69-59 at the Gallagher Center.  Senior Jaclyn Konieczka scored a career and game-high 21 points leading the way to victory.  Kayla Stroman, who was a freshman, scored 15 points.

The defeat snapped what was, at the time, the nation’s third longest winning streak and is coach Kendra Faustin’s only win against the Red Foxes.  That game was also played on a Sunday. 

One-Two Matchup
The Red Foxes and Purple Eagles were picked first and second, respectively, in the MAAC Preseason Coach’s Poll.  They are also the top two in a pair conference stat categories.
NU currently leads the conference in assists per game with 14.6 apg while Marist trails with 14.2.  Marist leads in steals with 11.4 per game while Niagara has recorded 11.0 a game. 

Playing Well In Conference
In MAAC games, Niagara is third in three-point field goal percentage, hitting trifectas at a 35.4 percent clip, and are second in blocked shots with 3.8 blocked shots per game.

Turning Up The Heat
Three players are averaging double-digit points per game in MAAC games and are in the top-20 in the conference.  Lauren Gatto is fifth with 15.6 ppg, Shy Britton is 15th with 10.8 ppg, and Meghan McGuinness is 20th with 10.0 ppg. 

Shy Britton leads the MAAC in field goal percentage through the first five conference games, connecting on 54.3 percent of her chances.

High Fliers
Lauren Gatto leads the team with 14.0 ppg, which was good enough to land her fifth in the conference.  She also leads all players in the MAAC in field goal percentage, hitting and even 50.0 percent of her looks from the floor.

Dishing Out Assists
With 62 assists on the season, Kayla Stroman is averaging 3.7 assists per game, which has her first in the MAAC. 

In conference play she is second with 4.8 apg and Kelly Van Leeuwen found her way into the top-10, placing seventh with 3.2 apg.