ALBANY, N.Y. – The sixth-seeded Niagara Purple Eagles defeated the eleventh-seeded Manhattan Jaspers, 57-51, in the 2015 MAAC Tournament First Round on Thursday afternoon at the Times Union Center.

With the win, Niagara advances to the quarterfinal round against the No. 3 seed Fairfield tomorrow at 9:30 p.m.

"I thought that was really indicative of what the MAAC tournament should be," head coach Kendra Faustin said.  "It was a hard fought game and I'm very thankful to come away with a victory."

Niagara (14-16, 9-11 MAAC) opened the first half leading 9-3 after a three-pointer from Victoria Rampado at the 16:59 mark. Over the next three minutes, Manhattan (3-27, 2-19 MAAC) scored six straight points to tie the contest 9-9. However, the Purple Eagles led the rest of the first stanza outscoring the Jaspers 19-15 to head into the locker room with a 28-24 lead.

The second half was a back-and-fourth affair as the Jaspers tied the score (29-29) in the early goings. Once again, NU quickly responded with a layup from Taylor McKay to reclaim the lead with 18:09 on the clock. From there both teams traded baskets until the Purple Eagles took a 48-40 lead after a 3-pointer from Meghan McGuinness and two free throws from Rampado. With 1:20 remaining in the game, Donisha Watson finished a three point play at the foul line giving Niagara its largest lead of the game, 56-47.

Manhattan was forced to foul in the final 30 seconds of the game but it wasn't enough as the Purple Eagles took the 57-51 victory.

"I don't think we played particularly well but we are certainly excited with the great plays we made down the stretch to pull out the win," Faustin said.  "I'm also very proud of how well our team stayed composed at the end of the game."

NU took a 43-38 advantage on the boards, a 23-12 edge in second chance points and 17-7 upper hand in points off the bench. Both teams shot 32.8 percent from the field however Niagara went 16-for-21 (76.2 percent) from the charity strip compared to the Jaspers 11-for-17 (64.7 percent).

All-MAAC Second Team member, Rampado, led all scorers with 15 points on the afternoon. Ramapado and Watson both had eight rebounds to lead the Purple Eagles on the glass.

Niagara had many contributions on the evening as McKay chipped in 10 points and five rebounds. Watson finished with nine points while Kaylee Stroemple had eight points, five rebounds and three assists. Sylvia Maxwell added seven points, two rebounds and two assists while fellow teammate McGuinness had six points, four rebounds and two assists as well. 

The Purple Eagles will play in the MAAC Tournament Quarterfinals tomorrow night at 9:30 p.m. against the Fairfield Stags.