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Taming The Red Foxes
The Niagara women's basketball team will attempt to split the season series against the Marist Red Foxes on Saturday night in the McCann Arena.

Niagara (11-13, 7-8 MAAC) is coming off a thrilling 64-59 overtime victory, splitting the season series, against the Siena Saints. The Purple Eagles have won three of their last four games and have enjoyed two of their best three-point shooting performances of the season. NU shot 8-for-14 (57.1 percent) from beyond the arc against Marist and 6-for-11 (54.5 percent) against the Stags. Niagara currently ranks 11th in the NCAA with a 37.6 three-point field goal percentage.

Overall, Niagara's offense is led by senior guard Meghan McGuinness and sophomore forward Victoria Rampado. McGuinness averages 13.2 ppg while Rampado is scoring 12.7 ppg for the Purple Eagles.

The Red Foxes (16-8, 12-3 MAAC) are coming off a 80-62 loss against the Quinnipiac before defeating the Canisius Golden Griffs, 63-49. This year's Red Foxes feature three players averaging over 10.0 ppg, led by Tori Jarosz's 17.8 ppg and a team-high 8.8 rpg.

Niagara dropped a 75-66 decision earlier this season to the Red Foxes. A win on Saturday would not only break the Red Foxes' 12-game winning streak in the series between the two teams, but give NU its first win over Marist since 2010. The Purple and White came close a few times in 2011, including the last game of the season and in the first MAAC Tournament Semifinals when the teams went into overtime. In the 79-77 double-overtime loss in the Gallagher Center, Niagara took the rebounding battle 42-33 and McGuinness turned in 16 points after going 4-for-5 from beyond the arc.
 
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 Marist).

 
On The Court: Marist Red Foxes (16-8, 12-3 MAAC)

• The Red Foxes are led by Brian Giorgis who is in his 13th year as head coach at Marist.
• Senior center Tori Jarosz is Marist's top scorer as she averages 17.8 points per game while also contributing 8.8 rebounds per contest.
• Junior forwad Madeline Blais also scores in double figures for the Red Foxes with 15.3 points per outings. Blais also adds 5.6 rebounds per game.

 
Against the Red Foxes (Marist leads 27-13)
Last Meeting - February 5, 2015
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – Despite a sizeable run in the second half, the Niagara Purple Eagles dropped their Thursday evening tilt against the Marist Red Foxes 75-66 at the Gallagher Center.
 
Tipoff Tidbits

• Niagara's offense is led by senior guard Meghan McGuinness, who averages 13.2 points per game. The Lincroft, N.J. native has scored at least 10 points in 20 of the last 22 games.
• Sophomore forward Victoria Rampado, also averages double-figures with 12.7 points per outing and a team-high 5.9 rebounds per game.
• Saturday will mark the 25th game of the season for the Purple Eagles and their 13th contest on the road. NU is 6-6 away from the Gallagher Center and 4-3 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 293-254 in their 15 conference games.
• NU has a 9-3 record this season when leading at halftime.
• Victoria Rampado is averaging 14.1 ppg in conference match ups while Meghan McGuinness averages 13.8 ppg in MAAC contests.

 
A Win On Saturday Would...

• Give Niagara its first win over Marist since 2010.
• Break the Red Foxes' 12-game winning streak in the series between the two teams.
• Give head coach Kendra Faustin her second win against Marist.

 
McGuinness Earns Capital One Academic All-District Honors

• On Feb. 5, senior Meghan McGuinness was named to the 2014-15 Capital One Academic All-District Women's Basketball First Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

 
Breaking The 500-Point Barrier

• Victoria Rampado scored her 500th career point against Manhattan on Jan. 31. She entered the game with 496 points and turned in a 10-point effort to finish the evening with 506 career points.
• The sophomore now stands 41 points away from 600 with 559 career points.

 
National Leaders (as of Feb. 13)

• The Purple Eagles rank 85th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (.93), led by senior point guard Kelly Van Leeuwen (3.7 assist-to-turnover) who ranks 3rd among all players in the country.
• Last season, Van Leeuwen finished 10th in the nation with a 2.91 assist/turnover ratio.
• Niagara also ranks in the top-50 in the nation in field-goal percentage defense (32nd), rebound margin (44th), three-point field goal percentage (11th) and assists per game (44th).
• Meghan McGuinness ranks 8th in the NCAA with a 46.0 three-point field goal percentage.

 
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 four 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 17 assists away from the sixth all-time career assists spot.

 
Top Of The MAAC (as of Feb. 13)

• The Purple Eagles have two players in the top-10 in the MAAC in points per game.
• Victoria Rampado is ranked 6th with 14.1 ppg while Meghan McGuinness sits in the 7th spot with 13.8 ppg.
• Kelly Van Leeuwen ranks third in the conference with 5.0 apg.
• McGuinness is 1st in the MAAC with a 48.2 three-point field goal percentage.
• 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 (2.3) and the best rebounding margin (7.7). The Purple Eagles rank first in 3-point field goal percentage (39.4 percent/ 87-for-221) and fourth in field goal percentage (41.1 percent/ 351-for-855).
• NU additionally ranks fifth in offensive rebounds (13.5 per game) and second in defensive rebounds (28.3 per game).