NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara University women's basketball team lost a hard-fought game, 57-48, to Big 4 rival Buffalo on Monday, Dec. 21.

"Today was tough," said Niagara head coach Jada Pierce. "We felt going into this that this was a game of equal teams and of equal talent that could go either way. We worked on some stuff over the weekend, anticipating that Buffalo was going to play a little bit more zone to start so we were focusing on that and thought it had gotten better, but we obviously had our struggles today."

Leading the Purple Eagles in scoring for the third game in a row was Kaylee Stroemple, who finished with 18 points. Stroemple also had seven rebounds. Emily Granruth led the team in rebounds with eight, a career-best. Granruth also scored a career-high nine points. Sam Lapszynski finished the night with eight points and six rebounds. Tiffany Corselli also added eight points for the Purple Eagles.  

The Purple Eagles came out looking energized on both offense and defense and got off to a quick lead. Lapszynski scored the first six points for Niagara (1-8) and with 4:36 left in the first quarter, Niagara was up 6-4. With 19 seconds left in the first, Stroemple hit a 3-point shot and the Purple Eagles went into the second quarter leading the Bulls 15-4.

Stroemple opened scoring for the Purple Eagles in the second quarter, sinking another 3-pointer that put Niagara up 18-6 at the 7:46 mark. Stroemple struck again at 6:39, making another 3-point shot and giving the Purple Eagles a ten point lead, 21-11. Granruth gave Niagara its third 3-pointer of the quarter, putting the Purple Eagles up 24-14 with 4:39 left to go in the first half. However, the Bulls (7-3) began to pick up speed and at the end of the half, Niagara maintained a narrow lead, 27-23.

In the third quarter, the Purple Eagles and the Bulls continued to keep the score close. With 7:37 left, Taylor McKay made a fast-break and sank a lay-up, helping Niagara maintain its lead, 31-27.  Lay-ups by Lapszynski and Granruth put the score at 35-33 with a little under five minutes left in the third, but the Bulls took advantage of turnovers and the third quarter came to a close with Buffalo in the lead, 42-38.

Buffalo began to pull away further from the Purple Eagles in the fourth quarter and with 6:19 left in the game, the Bulls led 45-39. The Purple Eagles, however, did not give up and made a run for the lead midway through the fourth. With 4:37 left, Stroemple made a lay-up in the paint, leaving the Purple Eagles trailing by only four points, 45-41. Granruth sank a 3-pointer with 1:34 left in the game, and Corselli hit a 3-point shot with 42 seconds left but unfortunately, it was not enough to regain the lead and Buffalo came away with the win.

The Purple Eagles travel to Olean, N.Y. on Wednesday, Dec. 23, to take on Big 4 rival St. Bonaventure at 12:00 p.m.

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