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Back At It
The Purple Eagles will continue their home weekend on Saturday against the Fairfield Stags at 1 p.m.

Niagara is coming off a 75-66 decision against MAAC powerhouse, Marist. With the loss, Niagara dropped its eighth conference match of the season. The difference of the game came in the first half as the Red Foxes scored 41 points in the first stanza. Three times throughout the second half, the Purple Eagles cut the deficit to at least six points after Marist built a lead as high as 20 points in the first half. Niagara outscored Marist in the second half, 36-34, yet the Purple Eagles weren't able to get within more than eight points the rest of the game.

Overall, Niagara's offense is led by senior guard Meghan McGuinness and sophomore forward Victoria Rampado. McGuinness, who averages 13.0 ppg for the Purple Eagles, 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 announced on Thursday.

The Stags (10-12, 9-4 MAAC) are currently on a three-game winning streak and most recently topped Canisius, 63-54. Fairfield, who was picked to finish fourth just six points ahead of NU in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, opened conference play with a victory over Siena and a loss against Quinnipiac. The Stags hold a 5-3 home record and a 5-7 record away from Alumni Hall. Sophomore forward Casey Smith is Fairfield's top scorer, averaging 12.4 points, and pulls down 4.6 rebounds per game.

Niagara dropped both games last season to the Stags. However, the Purple Eagles took a thrilling 66-64 win over Fairfield earlier this year. The victory was the first time the Purple Eagles have beaten the Stags in Alumni Hall since 1999.
 
How To Tune In

• Purple Eagle fans can follow all of Saturday's action via PurpleEagles.com.  A live video broadcast will be provided through Purple Eagles All-Access with announcer Dave Universal.  Live stats will be provided as well.

 
On The Court
Fairfield Stags (10-12, 9-4 MAAC)

• The Stags are led by Joe Frager who is in his 8th year as head coach at Fairfield.
• Sophomore forward Casey Smith is Fairfield's top scorer, averaging 12.4 points, and pulls down 4.6 rebounds per game.
• Junior guard Kristin Schatzlein also averages double-figures for the Stags. Schatzlein scores 12.3 points per contest and averages 3.7 rebounds per game.
• Freshman forward Samantha Cooper leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per game while also contributing 8.0 points per outing.

 
Against the Stags (Fairfield leads 35-19)
Last Meeting - January 4, 2015
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Niagara Purple Eagles battled hard to the very end to earn a 66-64 victory over Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opponent Fairfield Stags on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Hall.
 
Tipoff Tidbits

• Niagara's offense is led by senior guard Meghan McGuinness, who averages 13.0 points per game. The Lincroft, N.J. native has scored at least 10 points in 18 of the last 20 games.
• Sophomore forward Victoria Rampado, also averages double-figures with 12.4 points per outing and a team-high 6.1 rebounds per game.
• Saturday will mark the 23rd game of the season for the Purple Eagles and their 12th contest at home. NU is 4-7 at the Gallagher Center and 2-5 against conference opponents at home.
• NU had a season-high +22 rebound margin in the win over Binghamton.
• Niagara's bench has outscored its opponents bench by a combined 264-233 in their 13 conference games.
• NU has a 7-3 record this season when leading at halftime.
• Victoria Rampado is averaging 13.8 ppg in conference match ups while Meghan McGuinness averages 13.6 ppg in MAAC contests.

 
A Win On Saturday Would...

• Sweep the series against Fairfield this season.
• Give head coach Kendra Faustin her fourth win against Fairfield.

 
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 73 points away from 600 with 527 career points.

 
National Leaders (as of Feb. 4)

• The Purple Eagles rank 84th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (.94), led by senior point guard Kelly Van Leeuwen (3.81 assist-to-turnover) who ranks 2nd 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 (25th), rebound margin (45th), three-point field goal percentage (35th), assists per game (50th) and defensive rebounds per game (27th).

 
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 nine 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 27 assists away from the sixth all-time career assists spot.

 
Top Of The MAAC (as of Feb. 6)

• The Purple Eagles have two players in the top-10 in the MAAC in points per game.
• Victoria Rampado is ranked 5th with 13.8 ppg while Meghan McGuinness sits in the 8th spot with 13.6 ppg.
• Kelly Van Leeuwen ranks third in the conference with 5.0 apg.
• McGuinness is tied for 2nd in the MAAC with 2.8 three-pointers made per game.
• The Purple Eagles are second in the MAAC in field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 36.4 percent from the field.
• As a team, Niagara has the fourth best scoring margin within the conference (1.5) and the best rebounding margin (8.2). The Purple Eagles rank second in 3-point field goal percentage (38.0 percent/ 76-for-200) and sixth in field goal percentage (40.0 percent/ 303-for-757).
• NU additionally ranks fifth in offensive rebounds (13.9 per game) and second in defensive rebounds (28.8 per game).