The Niagara women’s basketball team is riding a wave of momentum heading into Saturday’s game against Saint Peter’s on Saturday afternoon at the Gallagher Center.
   
Niagara (11-11, 6-5 MAAC) has two consecutive victories after topping Rider 64-59 on the road before coming home to defeat Loyola 58-47 on Thursday to move into a three-way tie for third place in the conference.
   
NU also comes into the meeting with a three-game winning streak over the Peacocks (2-20, 2-9 MAAC).  It swept the season series in 2011-12, allowing 52 points in each victory.  In this year’s win the Purple Eagles were able to build an 18-point first half lead but the Peacocks tightened things up in the second half, climbing within five-points several times.  Meghan McGuinness hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to maintain the lead and finished with a game-high 16 points. 
   
Over the past two games junior Lauren Gatto has averaged 19 ppg and 10.5 rpg.  Over that same span Kayla Stroman has averaged 3.5 apg and 3.0 spg.
 
How to Tune In
Fans can follow the action on PurpleEagles.com.  Video and audio broadcasts can be found on Purple Eagles All-Access in addition to live stats.
 
Last Time Out
The Niagara women’s basketball team continued its march through MAAC play with a convincing 58-47 win over the Loyola Greyhounds on Kid’s Day at the Gallagher Center.
  
The Purple Eagles (11-11, 6-5 MAAC) had two players finished in double-digit scoring as Meghan McGuinness shot 70.0 percent (7-for-10) from the floor on her way to a game-high 19 points and Lauren Gatto shot 54.5 percent (6-for-11) inside the arc on her way to 16 points.  Gatto also brought in 10 rebounds for her second double-double in as many games.
  
Kayla Stroman ran the point effectively, dishing out a team-high six assists and tying the game-high with four steals.
 
On The Court: Saint Peter’s Peacocks (2-20, 2-9 MAAC)          
The Peacocks are 2-2 in their last four games.  They won their first game of the season on Jan. 27 over Manhattan73-66 and won on Thursday 62-52 over Canisius.  In-between they dropped games to Fairfield (58-50) and Marist (68-49).
  
Since the last time these two team met the Peacocks are 2-6 with the other four losses coming against Canisius (62-52), Siena (75-60), Iona (93-62), and Rider (74-51).
  
Saint Peter’s is led in scoring by senior forward Kristal Edwards’ 13.5 ppg.  Fellow senior forward Kaydine Bent is the team’s top rebounder, bringing down 7.2 boards per game.
 
Against the Peacocks (Saint Peter’s leads 42-14)
These two programs have alternated season-sweeps over the past two seasons as the Purple Eagles swept the  season series in the 2011-12 campaign but the Peacocks took the series in 2010-11.  They split the pair of games in 2009-10 with each team winning on the road.
 
Home Sweet Home
After coming off a four-game road trip, the Purple Eagles will play five of their last eight games at home, including a stretch that has them play three of their last four in the Gallagher Center.  They have already faced Loyola and have yet to host Saint Peter’s, Fairfield, Manhattan, and Canisius.
   
The Purple Eagles are 6-4 at home this season.
 
Honoring The 1978-79 Team
At halftime of Saturday’s game, Niagara will honor the 1978-79 team.  This was before the divisions played within eachother exclusively, so the Purple Eagles took on all comers and finished third nationally in the AIAW. 
     
With the 40th anniversary of Title IX, the women’s basketball program will honor these pioneers of female college athletics.
 
Nearing 900
Redshirt-junior Kayla Stroman is seven points away from reaching 900 for her career.  She enters Saturday with 893 points.
 
Starting February 2-1
The Purple Eagles also started February with a 2-1 record last season.  Victories over Saint Peter’s and Manhattan bookended a loss to Canisius.  This season they began with a loss to Loyola followed by wins over Rider and Loyola. 
     
In 2011-12 Niagara would win its fourth game of the month to bring their record to 3-1.
 
M&M Enterprises
Sophomore Meghan McGuinness has played three games against Saint Peter’s.  In those games she as averaged 15.3 ppg and 5.0 rpg.