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One For The Road
The Niagara women's basketball team will go for its first sweep of the season when it faces the Manhattan Jaspers on Saturday afternoon in the Draddy Gymnasium.

Niagara (8-12; 4-7 MAAC) has dropped three consecutive games and six of its last seven, 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 12.9 points per game and 3.9 rebounds per contest. In NU's 11 MAAC games, Victoria Rampado leads the team with 13.5 points per game and 6.4 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 Manhattan Jaspers (2-17; 1-9 MAAC) are looking to break a six-game losing streak after dropping their most recent matchup to Marist, 77-38. Junior forward Shayna Ericksen paces the Jaspers with a team-high 9.3 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per contest. Freshman guard Nyasha Irizarry is Manhattan's next leading scorer for the Jaspers. Irizarry scores 8.0 points per outings and averages 2.4 rebounds per game. Freshman center Kayla Grimme contributes a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game while also adding 6.6 points per contest.

Niagara earned its second MAAC win of the season when the Purple Eagles defeated the Jaspers on Dec. 7 at the Gallagher Center, 64-36. The Purple Eagles split last seasons' series against the Jaspers with both teams winning on the road. NU took a 71-67 overtime victory on Jan. 23, 2014, while Manhattan came away with a 64-56 win at the Gallagher Center on Feb. 15, 2014. Niagara has won five of the last seven meetings between the two teams.
 
How To Tune In

• Purple Eagle fans can follow all of Saturday's action via PurpleEagles.com.  Live stats will be provided as will links to an audio feed and a video feed (both provided through Manhattan).

 
On The Court: Manhattan Jaspers (2-17, 1-9 MAAC)

• The Jaspers are led by John Olenowski who is in his 6th year as head coach at Manhattan.
• Junior forward Shayna Ericksen is the Jaspers' top scorer as she averages 9.3 points per game while also contributing a 6.5 rebounds per contest.
• Freshman center Kayla Grimme is Manhattan's leading rebounderwith 6.9 boards per outings. Grimme also adds 6.6 points per game.

 
Against the Jaspers (Tied 26-26)
Last Meeting - December 7, 2014
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - The Niagara women's basketball team pushed its winning streak to four with a convincing 64-36 victory over the Manhattan Jaspers on Sunday afternoon. The Purple Eagles, which trailed 20-19 at the half, outscored the Jaspers 45-16 in the second half.
 
Tipoff Tidbits

• Niagara's offense is led by senior guard Meghan McGuinness, who averages 12.9 points per game. The Lincroft, N.J. native has scored at least 10 points in 16 of the last 18 games.
• Sophomore forward Victoria Rampado, also averages double-figures with 12.1 points per outing and a team-high 5.8 rebounds per game.
• Saturday will mark the 21st game of the season for the Purple Eagles and their 11th contest on the road. NU is 4-6 away from the Gallagher Center and 2-3 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 232-191 in their 10 conference games.
• NU has a 6-3 record this season when leading at halftime
• Both Victoria Rampado and Meghan McGuinness are averaging 13.5 ppg in conference match ups.

 
A Win On Saturday Would...

• Sweep the series against Manhattan this season.
• Boost Niagara to a 27-26 lead in the series against the Jaspers.
• Improve head coach Kendra Faustin's record against Saint Peter's to an even .500, 10-10.

 
National Leaders

• The Purple Eagles rank 78th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (.97), led by senior point guard Kelly Van Leeuwen (3.92 assist-to-turnover) who ranks 2nd among all players in the country.
• Niagara also ranks in the top-50 in the nation in field-goal percentage defense (34th), three-point field goal percentage (34th), and assists per game (48th).

 
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 14 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 33 assists away from the sixth all-time career assists spot.

 
Top Of The MAAC (as of Jan. 30)

• The Purple Eagles have two players in the top-25 in the MAAC in points per game.
• Victoria Rampado is ranked 6th with 13.5 ppg while Meghan McGuinness sits in the 7th spot with 13.5 ppg as well.
• Kelly Van Leeuwen ranks third in the conference with 5.3 assists per game.
• McGuinness also ranks 4th in the MAAC with 2.7 three-pointers made per game.
• The Purple Eagles are second in the MAAC in field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 36.1 percent from the field.
• As a team, Niagara has the fourth best scoring margin within the conference (2.0) and the best rebounding margin (7.6). The Purple Eagles rank fourth in 3-point field goal percentage (36.8 percent/ 64-for-174) and sixth in field goal percentage (40.0 percent/ 260-for-650).
• NU additionally ranks third in offensive rebounds (14.3 per game) and second in defensive rebounds (28.6 per game).

 
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.