Battle of the Bridge
It took 10 games into the MAAC schedule, but the Niagara Purple Eagles will finally go head-to-head with cross-town rival Canisius Golden Griffins at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday in the Gallagher Center.
    
This matchup between Battle of the Bridge opponents has a lot of history behind it since this will be the 83rd game played between the teams. The first meeting came way back during the 1974-75 season, Niagara's (6-13, 4-6 MAAC) first as a program. More recently the teams have split the season series in each of the last two seasons. Niagara won the first game in both, 66-60 on Jan. 19, 2012 and 62-49 on Jan. 27, 2013, but Canisius (8-12, 4-7 MAAC) won the second game and force the split, 58-57 on Feb. 4, 2012 and 51-36 on March 1, 2013.
    
The home team hasn't won since Feb. 24, 2011 when Canisius won 55-27 in the Koessler Center. The season before that, 2009-10, began with a 52-49 Niagara win at home on Feb. 3, 2010, so the last two times the home team won it swept the season series.
    
Niagara is looking to rebound after a tough loss at Marist, a game in which NU had a first half lead as large as nine points and had the game tied with two and a half minutes left.  The team's leading scorer Meghan McGuinness played well, scoring 15 points to go along with a team-high three steals.  Val McQuade scored 10 points in the second half to keep her team in it and added three assists.  Victoria Rampado added nine points off the bench.
    
The Golden Griffins come into the matchup winning three of their last five games, including a 75-66 win over Siena.  Junior Guard Kayla Hoohuli scored a team high 19 points, including four three-pointers, and grabbed two steals for the Griffins.  Hoohuli leads the Griffins with 10.2 ppg and 18 steals on the season.  Guard Tiahana Mills also had a strong showing against the Saints with eight points, six rebounds, and six assists.
 
How To Tune In
•    Purple Eagle fans can follow all of Sunday's action via PurpleEagles.com.  A live video broadcast announcer Dave Universal will be available on Purple Eagles All-Access.  Fans will also be able to follow along with live stats.
 
Against the Griffs (Canisius leads 49-33)
• The Purple Eagles won the first game of the last two season series Niagara was a last-second shot away from sweeping the season series in 2011-12 but instead split with Canisius. 
 
Battle of the Bridge
• The Battle of the Bridge, the all-sports competition between cross-town rivals Niagara University and Canisius College, enters its eighth season in 2013-14. 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 is 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 trailing this season's series, 8-5.
 
Flying North
• The women's basketball program at Niagara is closely bound to its counterpart at Canisius because of 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.
• Kyle Hejmowski also has ties to the Griffs.  He was a three-year student manager for the Golden Griffins men's team and a spot-starter for the women's team's radio broadcasts while an undergraduate at Canisius from 1999-2003.  While Hejmowski was at Canisus, long-time Griffs head coach, Terry Zeh, was still an assistant for the men's team.
 
Follow The Leader
• Chanel Johnson has settled into her leadership role this season.  She is the second leading scorer on the team, on pace to more than double-up her previous career-high ppg of 5.8 set as a freshman.  She has also led the team in scoring in eight games this season including six of the 10 conference games.
•  She went on a run where she led the team in scoring in four consecutive games to open the MAAC schedule against Quinnipiac (19 points), Fairfield (19 points), Saint Peter's (12 points), and Iona (19 points).