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The Niagara women’s basketball team wraps up its four-game road trip with a matchup against the Rider Broncs at 2 p.m. in Alumni Gymnasium.
   
The Purple Eagles (9-11, 4-5 MAAC) won the first game in the season series against the Broncs (10-10, 5-4 MAAC) in the Gallagher Center on Jan. 18.  Niagara relied on a team-attack on the offensive end of the court as Kayla Stroman (13 points), Lauren Gatto (11 points), Shy Britton (11 points), and Meghan McGuinness (10 points) all contributed double-digit efforts.
   
Since the first meeting, Gatto and McGuinness have been doing the heavy lifting on the offensive end of the court.  Gatto has averaged 18.5 ppg over the last four games while McGuinness has averaged 10.5 ppg.  Val McQuade has scored 7.8 ppg but is leading the team’s three-point effort (among players with at least 10 attempts), hitting 45.5 percent of her chances.  Freshman Sylvia Maxwell has scored 6.0 ppg while starting in each of the last four games.
 
How to Tune In
Fans can follow the action via live stats on PurpleEagles.com.  An audio broadcast and video feed will be provided through Rider.
 
Last Time Out
Despite a career-high 25 points from Lauren Gatto, a late surge by the Loyola Greyhounds sunk the Niagara women’s basketball team 71-68 in overtime at Reitz Arena.
  
The Purple Eagles (9-11, 4-5 MAAC) led for a bulk of the opening half but the Loyola Greyhounds (8-12, 3-6 MAAC) came back to take a 29-27 lead with 5:47 left.   Kayla Stroman tied the game with a jumper before the Greyhounds extended the lead to four, 33-29.  From there, Shy Britton, Meghan McGuinness, and Gatto took Niagara on a 7-2 run to give their team a 36-35 lead.
 
The second half was more of the same as Niagara again led throughout most of the period, including a six-point, 59-54 lead with just over four minutes left in regulation.  Loyola, however, went on a run over the final four minutes to send the game to overtime tied at 61-61.
 
Overtime started with a jumper from Britton, ended with a Kelly Van Leeuwen three-pointer, with a Kayla Stroman layup in-between, but Loyola would have the upper hand and come away with the 71-63 win.
 
On The Court: Rider Broncs (10-10, 5-4 MAAC)
The Broncs are on a three-game winning streak that comes on the heels of dropping both games of the weekend in Western New York.  Two of the three wins have come on their home court.  Saint Peter’s (74-51) and Manhattan (60-57) both fell at Alumni Gym while the win over Fairfield (69-57) came on the road. 
  
MyNeshia McKenzie and Sironda Chambers are the leaders of this year’s Rider team.  McKenzie is a hair shy of averaging a double-double for the season with a team-high 14.3 ppg and 9.9 rpg. Chambers has 13.1 ppg this season.
 
Against the Broncs (Niagara leads 20-15)
The Purple Eagles won the first meeting this season by a 62-58 score.  Last year teams split the series with each team winning at home.  The Purple Eagles haven’t beaten Rider on the road since Jan. 18, 2010.
 
Road Trip
The Purple Eagles are on their longest road trip of the season, playing four-consecutive games away from the Gallagher Center.  They have played Iona, Canisius, and Loyola and have only yet to face Rider.  This is the only trip this season longer than two games and will complete a stretch where Niagara plays 5-of-8 games on the road.
 
Over The Last Five
Over the last five games Lauren Gatto has averaged a team-high 17.0 ppg and 6.6 rpg.  Meghan McGuinness has averaged 10.4 ppg while hitting 37.5 percent (9-for-24) of her three-point chances.
 
Winning The Battle Of The Boards
Niagara has outrebounded its opponents in the last five contests by an 180-176 margin.

Niagara is a 5-3 this season when it outrebounds its opponent.  It outrebounded Robert Morris in the season opener, 41-33, pulled down more boards than Kent State 43-30, came out on top against Colgate 45-42, out rebounded Saint Peter’s 48-45, and Canisius 35-30. 
 
Overtime For The Third Time
The Purple Eagles have gone to overtime on three occasions this season, a feat they haven’t accomplished since the 2000-01 season.  That year they also opened with a pair of OT wins, against Marist (71-66) and Saint Peter’s (92-91.  The third game was also a loss to Rider but by a score of 84-80.
 
Getting Even
A Niagara win would bring Kendra Faustin and Lynn Milligan’s head-to-head record to an even 6-6.
 
Opening February
The Purple Eagles are 21-19 all-time in the first game played in February.  They are 5-3 all-time on games played on February 2nd.
 
Opening February Against Rider
The last time NU opened the month of February with a game against the Rider Broncs was on Feb. 3, 2001.  The Purple Eagles came away with an 81-63 win.