Game Notes | ESPN3 | Live Stats

On The Road Again
The Niagara Purple Eagles are back on the road this weekend starting with a Thursday evening contest against the Saint Peter's Peacocks at 5 p.m.

Niagara (8-11; 4-6 MAAC) has dropped two consecutive games and five of its last six, however, three of those losses have been within a five point margin. The Purple Eagles are led by senior guard Meghan McGuinness, who is averaging 12.6 points per game and 4.0 rebounds per contest. In NU's 10 MAAC games, Victoria Rampado leads the team with 13.3 points per game and 6.5 boards per outing. Both scorers have been set up this season by Kelly Van Leeuwen, who leads the team and is third in the conference with 4.7 helpers per game.

The Saint Peter's Peacocks (1-17; 1-8 MAAC) are looking to break a seven-game losing streak after dropping their most recent matchup to Marist, 77-51. Freshman forward Sajanna Bethea paces the Peacocks with a team-high 8.1 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per contest. Freshman guard Alyssa Velles is Saint Peter's next leading scorer for the Peacocks. Velles scores 7.2 points per outings and averages 3.1 rebounds per game. Senior guard Antonia Smith contributes 6.3 points per game and leads the team with 34 assists on the season.

Niagara earned its first MAAC win of the season when the Purple Eagles defeated the Peacocks on Dec. 5 at the Gallagher Center, 73-40. NU split last season's series against Saint Peter's. The split came on the heels of four consecutive wins for the Purple & White. In the 2010-11 season, Niagara dropped both contests after a split in the 2009-10 season.
 
How To Tune In

• Thursday's game will air live on ESPN3 and on the WatchESPN app.
• Fans can also follow all of Thursday's action via Live Stats that can be found online at PurpleEagles.com (provided through Saint Peter's).

 
On The Court
Saint Peter's Peacocks (1-17, 1-8 MAAC)

• The Peacocks are led by Pat Coyle who is in her 2nd year as head coach at Saint Peter's.
• Freshman forward Sajanna Bethea is the Peacocks' top scorer as she averages 8.1 points per game while also contributing a team-high 6.4 rebounds per contest.
• Freshman guard Alyssa Velles is Saint Peter's next leading scorer with 7.2 points per outings. Velles also adds 3.1 rebounds per game.

 
Against the Peacocks (Saint Peter's lead 43-17)
Last Meeting - December 5, 2014
NIAGARA UNIV, N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles earned their first MAAC win with Friday afternoon's 73-40 victory over the Saint Peter's Peacocks at the Gallagher Center.

Tipoff Tidbits

• Niagara's offense is led by senior guard Meghan McGuinness, who averages 12.6 points per game. The Lincroft, N.J. native has scored at least 10 points in 15 of the last 17 games.
• Sophomore forward Victoria Rampado, also averages double-figures with 11.9 points per outing and a team-high 5.8 rebounds per game.
• Thursday will mark the 20th game of the season for the Purple Eagles and their 10th contest on the road. NU is 4-5 away from the Gallagher Center and 2-2 against conference opponents on the road.
• NU had a season-high +22 rebound margin in the win over Binghamton.
• Niagara's bench has outscored its opponents bench by a combined 222-170 in their 10 conference games.
• NU has a 6-2 record this season when leading at halftime
• Victoria Rampado is averaging 13.3 ppg in conference match ups while Meghan McGuinness has scored 12.9 ppg.

 
Ramp-ing Up

• Victoria Rampado had a career-day in Niagara's game against top-seeded Quinnipiac (1/11). She set career-highs with 27 points and 14 rebounds to mark her second double-double of the season. The Niagara Falls, Ont. native finished 12-for-18 from the field, 1-for-2 from beyond the arc and a perfect 2-for-2 from the charity stripe.
• Her performance earned her the MAAC Rookie of the Week award.

 
A Win On Thursday Would...

• Sweep the series against Saint Peter's this season.
• Boost Niagara to a .455, 5-6 conference record.
• Improve head coach Kendra Faustin's record against Saint Peter's to 9-7.

 
Breaking Records

• On Dec. 30, McGuinness went 5-for-9 from beyond the arc marking her 223rd career 3-pointer which tied her second in the 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 19 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, Joanne Lesnau and Kim Kuhn. On Jan. 23 against Iona, the senior guard had a season-high eight assists which placed her seventh in the all-time career assists record with a total of 328 assists. The senior guard now sits 38 assists away from the sixth all-time career assists spot.

 
National Leaders

• The Purple Eagles rank 75th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (.98), led by senior point guard Kelly Van Leeuwen (3.71 assist-to-turnover) who ranks 3rd among all players in the country.
• Niagara also ranks in the top-50 in the nation in field-goal percentage defense (32nd), rebound margin (46th), three-point field goal percentage (44th), and assists per game (43rd).

 
Top Of The MAAC (as of Jan. 28)

• The Purple Eagles have two players in the top-25 in the MAAC in points per game.
• Victoria Rampado is ranked 6th with 13.3 ppg while Meghan McGuinness sits in the 8th spot with 12.9 ppg.
• Kelly Van Leeuwen ranks third in the conference with 5.3 assists per game.
• McGuinness also ranks 4th in the MAAC with 2.5 three-pointers made per game.
• The Purple Eagles are second in the MAAC in field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 35.8 percent from the field.
• As a team, Niagara has the fourth best scoring margin within the conference (2.9) and the best rebounding margin (8.6). The Purple Eagles rank fourth in 3-point field goal percentage (35.5 percent/ 54-for-152) and fifth in field goal percentage (41.3 percent/ 245-for-593).
• NU additionally ranks third in offensive rebounds (14.5 per game) and second in defensive rebounds (29.1 per game).