The Purple Eagles (12-11, 7-5 MAAC) have put together a three-game winning streak after stringing together wins over Rider (64-59), Loyola (58-47), and Saint Peter’s (67-55).  Going back a bit further, they are winners of four of their last five games with a 62-49 win over Canisius coming before a 71-68 overtime loss to Loyola. 
   
Niagara is looking for its first win over Marist (17-6, 12-0 MAAC) since the 2009-10 season.  It has gotten close as two of the last three games have been decided in overtime and the other was a two-point game part-way through the second half. 
   
Over the three-game winning streak, Meghan McGuinness and Val McQuade have combined to go 7-for-18 (38.9 percent) from three-point range.
 
How to Tune In
Friday’s game will be televised on ESPNU and broadcast online at WatchESPN.com with the Play-by-Play team of Ed Cohen and Julianne Viani.  Live Stats will be provided on PurpleEagles.com.
 
Last Time Out
The Niagara women’s basketball team eased to a 67-55 win over Saint Peter’s on Saturday to complete the season sweep for the second consecutive season.
  
The duo of Lauren Gatto and Meghan McGuinness led Niagara (12-11, 7-5) in scoring for the second straight game. Gatto finished with a team-high 16 points to score in double figures for the 19th time this season. McGuinness added 11 points on 4-for-9 shooting from the field, including three 3-pointers.
  
10 Purple Eagles scored in the game, but it was a player who didn’t score that made a huge impact. Kayla Stroman tied a career-best with a game-high eight assists, while committing only one turnover, and had a team-high two steals. Stroman moved ahead of Stacie Kane (’92) for sixth all-time in assists and is three short of fifth
 
On The Court: Marist Red Foxes (17-6, 12-0 MAAC)
The Red Foxes have won 12-striaght games since the beginning of conference play.  The closest contest of the season came against second-place Fairfield, 61-56. 
  
Since the last time these two teams met, Marist has defeated Manhattan (60-39), Siena (75-64), Canisius (54-40), Saint Peter’s (68-49), Iona (63-40), and Siena again (66-48).  Its home record is 8-1 on the season and 5-0 during conference play.
  
Elizabeth Beynnon is leading the team with 11.7 ppg behind a 47.5 percent shooting percentage.  She is one of five Red Foxes who is averaging 9.0 ppg.  The other four are Emma O’Connor (9.5 ppg), Casey Dulin (9.3 ppg), Leanne Ockenden (9.0 ppg), and Kristina Danella (9.0 ppg).
 
Against the Red Foxes (Marist leads 22-13)
The Red Foxes are on a seven game winning streak over the Purple Eagles but the last three games have been tight.  The final two matchups in 2011-12 went into at least one overtime.  This year’s only game, was within two points in the second half after an 18-2 run by the Purple Eagles.
 
Three-Game Winning Streak
The Purple Eagles have strung together a three-game winning streak after defeating Rider, Loyola, and Saint Peter’s.  This is their longest winning streak of the season, with the last streak of at least three games came at the end of 2011-12.  NU closed out the end of last season with wins over Siena and Manhattan before defeating Loyola in the MAAC Tournament quarterfinals. 
     
Before last season, the team’s longest winning streak came in 2009-10 when it put together five-consecutive wins.  The streak started with an OT win over Siena and included a 69-59 win over the Marist Red Foxes.
 
The Red Coats Are Coming
When the Purple Eagles beat the Red Foxes on January 31, 2010 at the Gallagher Center, it brought a Marist 13-game winning streak to a halt.  This year Marist has a 12-game winning streak heading into its matchup with the Purple Eagles.
 
Holding Opponents Under 60 Points
Niagara has a 10-1 record this season when it holds opponents to 59 points or less.  On the flip side, Marist is 14-0 when it scores at least 60 points. 
 
Offensive Rebounds
In conference play this season, the Purple Eagles are third in the MAAC in offensive rebounds, averaging 13.6 per game.  Marist is sixth in the MAAC on the defensive end with 24.4 defensive rebounds per game. 
     
On the other end of the court, Niagara is sixth in defensive rebounds with 23.9 per game.  Marist, however, is tenth in offensive rebounding with just 8.9 per game.
 
McGatto
The duo of Lauren Gatto and Meghan McGuinness have been the top-two scorers for Niagara in four of the last five games.  The two combined for an average of 34 ppg in those contests. Individually, Gatto posted 18.5 ppg and McGuinness added 15.5 ppg.
 
Playing The Point
Kayla Stroman has played the point efficiently over the past five games with an assist/turnover ratio of 1.5.  Over the last two games that number balloons to 4.7 as the guard posted six assists and two turnovers against Rider and eight assists and one turnover against Saint Peter’s. 
     
Over the past five games she has also averaged 3.0 steals per game.
 
Nearing 900
Redshirt-junior Kayla Stroman is seven points away from reaching 900 for her career.  She enters Saturday with 893 points.
 
Almost 800
Lauren Gatto enters Friday’s game with 796 career points, four shy of the 800 mark for her career.