The Niagara women’s basketball team continues its longest road trip of the season with a Little Three rivalry game against the Canisius Golden Griffins at the Koessler Athletic Center on Sunday afternoon.
   
The Purple Eagles (8-10, 3-4 MAAC) are looking to get back into the win column after a pair of conference losses.  They split last season’s series with the Golden Griffins  (8-10, 5-2 MAAC), but narrowly missed out on a sweep because of a last-second shot in the second game. 
           
Val McQuade has the hot-hand in the last two games for the Purple Eagles, averaging 9.5 ppg and 4.5 rpg.  Over that same span, Lauren Gatto has a team-high 16.5 ppg and freshman Sylvia Maxwell is fourth on the team with 7.5 ppg.  Maxwell, who has started the last six games, is averaging 4.0 ppg since becoming a starter.
 
How to Tune In
Fans can watch the game on ESPN3, listen to an audio broadcast on Purple Eagles All-Access (with announcer Dave Universal), and follow the action with Live Stats.
 
Last Time Out
Niagara post players combined for 46 points on the night but it wasn’t enough as Niagara women’s basketball lost a close game 60-58 to the Iona Gaels on a last-second shot on Thursday night.
  
While the Gaels (10-8, 5-2 MAAC) were able to take an early lead, the first half  belonged to the Purple Eagles (8-10, 3-4 MAAC) who stayed in control with Lauren Gatto’s 18 first half points. 
  
The second half was a back-and-forth affair as the lead was traded three times and a pair of ties.  With four minutes left the Purple Eagles found themselves down 55-48 but stormed back to tie the game with 1:10 left after Val McQuade hit for seven of her 16 total points and Kelly Van Leeuwen added a three-pointer of her own.
  
Both team missed shots in the final seconds but Iona would connect on a layup with 2.6 seconds left to come away with the 60-58 win.
 
On The Court: Canisius Golden Griffins (8-10, 5-2 MAAC)
The Griffs struggled in the non-conference portion of their schedule, enduring a stretch that saw them lose 8-of-9 games.  The lone win in the stretch was a 61-48 decision to Binghamton on Nov. 27.  After splitting their first two MAAC games, beating Siena 65-62 and losing to Iona 68-54, the Griffs have gone 4-1 in their last five.  They beat Rider  twice (51-50 and 75-68), Saint Peter’s (62-52), and Loyola (60-46).  The only loss in that run was to Marist (51-41).
  
Three players average over 8.0 ppg for Canisius.  Ashley Durham averages 10.9 ppg, Jamie Ruttle averages 8.5 ppg, and Ashley Wilkes averages 8.2 ppg this season.
 
Against the Griffs (Canisius leads 48-32)
Niagara was a last-second shot away from sweeping the season series in 2011-12 but instead split with Canisius.  The last time Purple Eagles swept the season series was in 2009-10.
 
Battle of the Bridge
The Battle of the Bridge, the all-sports competition between cross-town rivals Niagara University and Canisius College, enters its seventh season in 2012-13. After Niagara claimed the inaugural competition, Canisius won the series the next two years, before Niagara claimed the Canal Cup at the end of the 2009-10 season. With the series tied 2-2, Canisius edged Niagara for the 2010-11 & 2011-12 title.

Points are awarded to the winner of regular-season contests, except for cross country, golf and swimming and diving, which will be determined by MAAC Championship standings. The Canal Cup will be awarded to the victor each year.

The name of the series is in reference to the Grand Island Bridge, which each team crosses when traveling to the other’s campus. The name of the trophy is in reference to the Erie Canal, which intersects Niagara County, where Niagara is located, and Erie County, where Canisius is located.

Niagara is currently leading this season’s series, 6-5, and needs 17 points to win the cup. The winner of the basketball game will receive two points.

 
Well Acquainted
Sunday’s game will be another in a long list of matchups between these two programs.  Niagara has faced Cansisus the most out of any other school in program history.  The 80 all-time meetings is far ahead of second-place St. Bonaventure (another Little Three rival) and its 56 games. 
 
Rerun? What’s A Rerun?
When Niagara beat Canisius last year it was the first meeting of the season, NU was coming off two-consecutive losses, it came in the middle of a four-game road trip, and it was also the first game of a double-header at the Koessler Athletic Center.
   
Just to recap, that is the exact same scenario as Sunday’s matchup.

Flying North
The women’s basketball program at Niagara is closely bound to  its counterpart at Canisius for more  than just the long-standing rivalry.  Kendra Faustin was an assistant coach at Canisius for three seasons (2004-07) before becoming the head coach at Niagara.
     
Brianna Lucas, the director of basketball operations, was a four-year member of the Canisius women’s basketball program from 2006-10.  Lucas graduated from Canisius College in 2010.


Setting The Bar
Two Purple Eagles have set career-highs in points in a game over the last two contests.  Freshman Sylvia Maxwell set her career-best (with 11 points) against Marist on Jan. 20 and sophomore Val McQuade set her mark against Iona on Thursday (with 16 points).
 
Stroman vs. The Golden Griffs
Last season Kayla Stroman scored 17 points in both of her games against Canisius.  She also averaged 4.5 apg in the two games.
   
In her four career games against the Griffs, she has been held to under 10 points only once.  She scored nine in the second game of her freshman year.
   
The redshirt-junior has averaged 13.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg, and 5.0 apg in her four career games against the Griffs.