POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Niagara women's basketball team pushed its winning streak to three with a 70-65 victory over the Marist Red Foxes on Saturday night at the McCann Arena.

In a balanced effort, four Purple Eagles scored in double figures as Kelly Van Leeuwen, Taylor McKay and Victoria Rampado all led NU with 12 points. Donisha Watson went 5-for-5 from the field to add 11 points on the night. McKay brought down a team-high seven rebounds while Watson contributed six boards on the night.

"I think Donisha played great and Kelly had a phenomenal second half," said head coach Kendra Faustin. "They played extremely hard and had great composure down the stretch."

Niagara (12-13, 8-8 MAAC) actually started the competition trailing 9-6 with less than five minutes into the game, but used a 6-0 run highlighted by a Meghan McGuinness three-pointer to take the lead. The teams traded baskets for the next twelve minutes as the score was tied 25-25 before a jumper by Kaylee Stroemple put Niagara back on top. Marist (16-9, 12-4 MAAC) hit a 3-pointer to take its final lead of the game (28-27) but the Purple Eagles went into intermission with a 33-31 lead.

The two teams traded baskets over the first six minutes of the second half as the Red Foxes would tie the game at 42-42 with 14:02 remaining in the game. With 6:43 on the clock, the Purple Eagles took their largest lead of the game, 64-54. Marist came as close as three points in the final minute of play, but McGuinness knocked down two free throws to help Niagara come away with the 70-65 win.  

Marist shot just 39.6 percent from the field (19-for-48) while NU went 28-for-59 (47.5 percent). Once again, the Purple Eagles dominated the stat sheet finishing with a 36-28 edge in rebounding, 15-2 advantage in second chance points and a 32-16 upper hand in points in the paint.

"This is a tough place to play and a really good team," Faustin continued. "It's a great win for us and I'm very proud of our team and how they never gave up."

The last time Niagara beat Marist was on January 31, 2010 when the Purple Eagles took a 69-59 decision at the Gallagher Center. This was also the first time the Purple Eagles beat the Red Foxes on their home court since 2001.

Niagara is back in action on Friday for its "Play 4 Kay" breast cancer awareness game as it takes on the Monmouth Hawks for the second time this season at 6 p.m. For ticket information, contact the Niagara Athletic Ticket Office at 716-286-8499.