NIAGARA UNIV, N.Y. – The Purple Eagles trailed for everything except the most important two minutes of the game, the final two minutes, and rallied for a 65-57 win over the Siena Saints on Thursday night in the Gallagher Center.
 
The Purple Eagles (8-16; 6-9 MAAC) entered the second half down seven points, but the Saints (7-17; 2-13 MAAC) were quickly able to build their lead up to 13 points and led 43-30 by the 14-minute mark. That's when NU took over and embarked on a run that eventually climbed to 35-14 by the time the game was over.  Chanel Johnson, who finished tied for the game-high with 21 points, got the run started with a pair of free throws and hit key shots to get NU close enough to take the lead.
 
"Chanel Johnson is the heart and soul of our team right now and her demeanor as a leader was not allowing anybody to take a step back," head coach Kendra Faustin said about her team's lone senior. "She just kept staying the course, staying true to the process, and she was phenomenal."
 
Not to be outdone, Victoria Rampado also finished with 21 points and added 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double in the second-consecutive game. The freshman hit nine points on the second-half run, including the free throw that gave her team the lead with 2:02 left to play.
 
"Victoria Rampado is a competitor who refuses to settle for anything but the best and I thought that showed tonight individually and that helped our team in the second half, in particular, and down the stretch to chip away and stay the course," Faustin said.
 
Kelly Van Leeuwen hit a pair of key three-pointers, the second of which extended NU's lead to four points with just over a minute left on the clock. From there NU went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line and pulled away to the 65-57 victory.
 
For Niagara, the first half was almost quite literally all Rampado and Johnson. The freshman opened the scoring for the Purple and White and finished the half with 12 of her team's 25 points. Johnson scored 10 of the remaining 13 points and was one rebound off of the team lead with three.
 
"Our senior and our freshman, man, they just did a great job," Faustin said. "If Chanel didn't have it she was passing it to Tor, and if Tor didn't have it she was passing it to Chanel. They certainly both stepped up and did a phenomenal job within themselves."
 
Van Leeuwen set a new career-high with eight assists, while only committing two turnovers, in the win that earned NU the season sweep of the Saints. Both Meghan McGuinness and Johnson finished the game with seven rebounds to help Niagara win the rebounding battle 44-38.
 
The Purple Eagles get back on the court when they face the Manhattan Jaspers Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in the Gallagher Center.