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Feast Week
The Purple Eagles end the month of November with a trip to Rochester, Mich. for a matchup with the Oakland Golden Grizzlies on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
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This year the teams will meet on the day before Thanksgiving, a holiday in which 46 million turkeys are consumed in the U.S. Niagara is coming off of its first win of the season, a 69-53 decision against Binghamton. JuniorÂ
Val McQuade scored a career-best 18 points and, along withÂ
Meghan McGuinness' 14 points, the Purple Eagles now have two players averaging over 12 ppg with McQuade scoring at a 12.5 ppg clip and McGuinness leading the team with 13.0 ppg. Â
Chanel Johnson added 13 points against Binghamton after hitting a career-best seven free throws, out of seven chances, to get the senior closer to double-digit points per game. She now sits at 8.0 ppg through two games.
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The Golden Grizzlies are still looking for their first win after dropping the first five out of the gate, including a 62-57 decision to the Canisius Golden Griffins on Nov. 16. The Grizzlies also have a pair of players averaging double digit points per game as Olivia Nash's 12.0 ppg and Elena Popkey's 11.6 ppg lead the team in scoring. They have another two players scoring 9.0 ppg in Kim Bee and Victoria Lipscomb, but after the top-four, there is a significant drop off. The remaining four players that see major playing time for the Grizzlies are shooting just 22.4 percent (19-for-85) from the floor and only one averages over 4.0 ppg, that is their fifth starter, Amy Carlton who has 4.6 ppg.Â
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The last time these two teams met was on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, a holiday in which the President of the United States pardons a turkey to live out its natural life at George Washington's Mt. Vernon estate, a contest that Niagara took 70-59 for its first win of the season. The Purple Eagles shot 51.9 percent (14-for-27) from the floor in the opening half on their way to a 47.4 percent total for the game.  McQuade is the leading returning scorer, she scored 12 points, and rebounder, she collected seven boards, from that matchup. McGuinness, Johnson, andÂ
Kelly Van Leeuwen all recorded three assists in the Niagara victory.
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Defensively the Purple Eagles put the clamps on Oakland's offense. Outside of Nash and Popkey, who combined for 33 points, NU allowed the other 10 players who got on the court to 26 points combined and held the entire team to just a 28.6 percent (4-for-14) clip from beyond the arc.Â
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How To Tune In
•   Purple Eagle fans can follow all of Wednesday's action via PurpleEagles.com. Live stats and a live video broadcast will be provided through Oakland.
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Against the Grizzlies (Oakland leads 4-3)
• Last season's victory by the Purple Eagles broke the Grizzlies' three-game winning streak.               The last time Niagara won back-to-back games against Oakland was between 2002-04 when it took both games played by the scores of 71-63 and 75-64.
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Against the Horizon League
• Niagara has played six of the nine teams that make up the present day Horizon League. Niagara comes into Wednesday's game with a 17-29 record against the conference but it has faced only five of the nine teams within the past decade. It has a 10-11 record over the 21 games played in that span. Its best record in the last 10 seasons, a perfect 4-0, is against Youngstown State.
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Getting The Start
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Gabby Baldasare made her first career start against the Binghamton Bearcats (11/23).Â
• The Junior set career-highs with 21 minutes played, seven rebounds, and two steals.
• Thanksgiving Fun Fact: Founding Father Benjamin Franklin originally wanted the national bird to be the turkey, not the bald eagle, because it was "a much more respectable bird."
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Final Game in November
• The last time the Purple Eagles took on the Grizzlies was the last game in the month of November. This season's matchup is also the final game of the eleventh month.
• The Purple Eagles are 12-21 all-time in the final game of November.
• Thanksgiving Fun Fact: Wild turkeys can run between 10 and 20 mph and fly in bursts of 55 mph. Domesticated turkeys can't fly at all.
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Top Of The MAAC
• The Purple Eagles have two players in the top-15 in the MAAC in points per game.
• Meghan McGuinness is in 12th with 13.0 ppg and Val McQuade is one spot behind at 13th with 12.5 ppg.
• McGuinness is third in the conference with a 48.3 percent three-point percentage. McQuade's 46.7 percent is seventh.
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"Ca Plane Pour Moi"
• The Purple Eagles are ranked first in the NCAA in free-throw percentage, shooting 88.44 percent (61-for-69) from the line.
• Four players are perfect from the foul line through this season's first four games; Gabby Baldasare has hit both of her chances, Meghan McGuinness is 4-for-4, Val McQuade is 7-for-7, and freshmanÂ
Victoria Rampado has hit all 11 free throws she has attempted.
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Sylvia Maxwell has been sent to the line a team-leading 14 times and has converted 12 of them. Chanel Johnson bridged the gap with her 7-for-7 performance against Binghamton (11/23) to bring her season total to 10-for-11.
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Hitting the Road
• An estimated 39 million Americans travel more than 50 miles for Thanksgiving. Niagara will travel 241 miles, twice, to get to and from Rochester, Mich. in time to play Oakland and be home for the holiday.
