HANOVER, N.H. – The Niagara women's basketball team was defeated by Dartmouth, 60-47, on Friday, Dec. 18.

"We were able to kind of control the tempo tonight with our one-press; we were able to get some time taken off the clock and slow them from running their offense," said Purple Eagles head coach Jada Pierce. "We'll be working a lot on our zone offense to sharpen that up to get our guards some better looks. Overall, the zone looked a lot better today than it has looked in thr past couple of weeks, so I really think we have a better concept of what we need to do with our rotations."

Kaylee Stroemple led the Purple Eagles in scoring with 16 points. Sam Lapszynski narrowly missed a double-double, with 13 points and nine rebounds; she led the team in rebounding. Jamie Sherburne led Niagara in assists with six. 

Stroemple scored the first points for Niagara in the first quarter, with a jumper at the 7:02 mark. With a little over five minutes left in the quarter, Stroemple hit a 3-point shot to tie the score 7-7. Emily Granruth sank another 3-pointer for the Purple Eagles with 25 seconds left in the quarter. The quarter ended with the score tied 15-15.

In the second quarter, the Purple Eagles and Dartmouth continued to keep the score close. Stroemple scored twice within the first few minutes of the quarter, giving the Purple Eagles a 19-18 lead. With 1:16 left in the first half, Sherburne hit a 3-pointer. The Purple Eagles trailed narrowly, 28-21, going into halftime.

Tiffany Corselli scored the first points for the Purple Eagles in the third quarter, hitting a 3-point shot with 9:08 left, bringing the score to 28-24 with Dartmouth in the lead. Taylor McKay tied the score up, 28-28, with 8:13 left. With 1:14 remaining in the quarter, Lapszynski scored two points to bring the score to 40-34. Stroemple scored with 44 seconds left to bring the score to 36-40, which would remain the score at the end of the third.

Sherburne opened scoring in the fourth quarter, sinking a 3-pointer in front of her hometown crowd to leave the Purple Eagles trailing by only one point, 40-39. Lapszynski added another two points for Niagara midway through the fourth, putting the score at 48-41 with the Big Green in the lead. With 1:51 left in the game, Granruth hit another 3-point shot, followed shortly by two more points from Stroemple, putting the score at 58-47. The Purple Eagles were persistent, but were not able to regain the lead and the Big Green took home the 60-47 win.

The Purple Eagles play next on Monday, Dec. 21 at home against University of Buffalo at 7:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast locally on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.

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