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One For The Road
The Niagara Purple Eagles wrap up the weekend on the road against the Monmouth Hawks on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. in the Multipurpose Activity Center.

After dropping Friday's tilt 61-56 to Rider, the Purple Eagles (7-9; 3-4 MAAC) have collected four losses so far in the conference season.  As of Saturday afternoon Niagara is tied for fifth-place with Siena, Canisius and Monmouth (7-9; 3-4 MAAC).  Two of NU's losses have come against the top-team in the MAAC, Quinnipiac, who is still undefeated in conference play.  Niagara has dropped its past three games but had a good-look at a victory in each of those contests, leading throughout carious points during each game. 

Monmouth has three of its four losses against the top two teams in the conference as well, losing to Quinnipiac (94-53) and Marist twice (75-65; 63-60). The Hawks most recently won a 73-69 decision over the Manhattan Jaspers on the road. Monmouth has a 3-3 overall record at home while holding 1-1 record in conference play at the MAC.

Sarah Olson and Jenny Horvatinovic are the players to watch for the Hawks. Olson is averaging 13.1 ppg and 3.3 rebounds per game while Horvatinovic averages 10.4 ppg and 4.4 rpg. Christina Mitchell lead the team in rebounds with 6.9 rpg and Helena Kurt is third on the team with 9.7 ppg.

The Purple Eagles won the first two meetings against Monmouth last season. Sunday's game will be the third time these teams will face each other.  Monmouth joined the MAAC in the summer of 2013.
 
How To Tune In

• ESPN3
• Fans can follow all of Sunday's action via Live Stats that can be found online at PurpleEagles.com. (provided through Monmouth)

 
On The Court
Monmouth Hawks (7-9, 3-4 MAAC)

• The Hawks are led by Jenny Palmateer who is in her 4th year as head coach at Monmouth.
• Junior guard Sarah Olson is Monmouth's top scorer, averaging 13.1 points, and pulls down 3.3 rebounds per game
• Sophomore forward Jenny Horvatinovic is the Hawks' next leading scorer for Monmouth. Horvatinovic scores 10.4 points per contest and averages 4.4 rebounds per game.
• Sophomore forward Christina Mitchell leads the team with 6.9 rebounds per game while also contributing 6.3 points per outing.

 
Against the Hawks (Niagara leads 2-0)
Last Meeting - February 22, 2014
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – The Purple Eagles got 20 points from both Meghan McGuinness and Victoria Rampado in their 85-57 victory over the Monmouth Hawks on Saturday night.
 
Tipoff Tidbits

• Niagara's offense is led by sophomore forward Victoria Rampado, who averages 12.1 points per game and a team-high 6.1 rebounds per contest.
• Senior guard Meghan McGuinness also averages double-figures with 11.9 points per outing. The Lincroft, N.J. native leads the team in scoring on the road with 11.3 points per contest and has scored at least 10 points in 10 of the last 11 games.
• Sunday will mark the 17th game of the season for the Purple Eagles and their ninth contest on the road. NU is 3-5 away from home and 1-2 against conference opponents on the road.
• Niagara had a season-high +22 rebound margin in the win over Binghamton.
• The Purple Eagles won the first two meetings against Monmouth last season. Sunday's game will be the third time these teams will face each other.  Monmouth joined the MAAC in the summer of 2013.

 
A Win On Friday Would...

• Give Niagara an undefeated 3-0 lead in the series against Monmouth.
• Boost Niagara to a .500, 4-4 conference record.
• Break NU's three-game losing skid.

 
Cardiac Kids

• Niagara's past four games have all been nail-biting thrillers within a five-point margin.
• The Purple Eagles outlasted Fairfield in a 66-64 victory while falling to Siena (56-52), Quinnipiac (71-68), and Rider (56-51).

 
Breaking Records

• On Dec. 30, McGuinness went 5-for-9 from beyond the arc marking her 223rd career 3-pointer which ties her second all-time record. Sheryl Klick, who played for Niagara from 1996-00, also has 223 career three pointers.
• Later, McGuinness made two three-pointers on Jan. 4 against Fairfield which moved her above Klick with the second most three-point field goals made (225).
• McGuinness now stands 32 three-pointers away from the all-time top spot.
• Also on Dec. 30, Kelly Van Leeuwen had six assists for NU which marked her 283rd career assist and broke her into the top-10 for the all-time assist record at Niagara.
• Van Leeuwen then surpassed Kelly Chase and Joanne Lesnau. On Jan. 16 against Rider, the senior guard had a season-high eight assists which placed her eighth in the all-time career assists record with a total of 311 assists.

• •The senior guard now sits 10 assists away from the seventh all-time career assists spot.

 
National Leaders

• The Purple Eagles rank 82th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (.95), led by senior point guard Kelly Van Leeuwen (3.43 assist-to-turnover) who ranks 5th among all players in the country.
• Niagara also ranks in the top-100 in the nation in field-goal percentage defense (39th), rebound margin (56th), three-point field goal percentage (61st) and assists per game (50th).

 
Top Of The MAAC (as of Jan. 17)

• The Purple Eagles have three players in the top-25 in the MAAC in points per game.

• Victoria Rampado is ranked 12th with 12.1 ppg while Meghan McGuinness sits in the 13th spot with 11.9 ppg.
• Val McQuade is 22nd in the conference with 10.6 points per game.
• Kelly Van Leeuwen ranks first in the conference with a 3.4 assist/turnover ratio.
• Rampado also ranks third in the conference with a 51.7 field goal percentage after going 74-for-143 in 15 games.
• The Purple Eagles are second in the MAAC in scoring defense, allowing just 62.6 points per game.
• As a team, Niagara has the fourth best scoring margin within the conference (2.6) and the second best rebounding margin (5.8). The Purple Eagles rank third in 3-point field goal percentage (34.8 percent/ 97-for-279) and sixth in field goal percentage (40.9 percent/ 395-for-965).
• NU additionally ranks second in offensive rebounds (13.9 per game) and first in defensive rebounds (28.8 per game).