ALBANY, N.Y. – The Niagara University women's basketball team saw its season come to a close with a 65-57 loss to the Fairfield Stags on Friday night in the quarterfinal round of the MAAC Tournament.

Senior guard Kelly Van Leeuwen totaled a career-high 19 points after going 5-for-7 from beyond the arc. Junior guard Taylor McKay added 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists while freshman forward Kaylee Stroemple chipped in nine points on the night. Senior center Donisha Watson also brought down seven boards on the night. 

"I thought Fairfield went hard on the offensive boards in the first half," head coach Kendra Faustin said. "But we definitely did a better job in the second half cleaning up on the defensive boards and not allowing any easy opportunities."

The opening minutes of the first half were controlled by the Purple Eagles as Niagara (14-17, 10-12 MAAC) opened up the game with two consecutive baskets from McKay to give NU the initial lead.  Over the next three minutes, Fairfield (15-15, 14-7 MAAC) managed to tie the matchup, 8-8, with 14:43 remaining in the first half. The Stags then used a 12-0 run to take a 20-8 lead, but NU was able to go on a 10-2 run to bring the game back within four points. Niagara's run highlighted three-pointers by Meghan McGuinness and Kelly Van Leeuwen.

Over the final four minutes, NU outscored the Stags 10-6 to go into halftime tied, 28-28.

The two teams traded baskets over the first eight minutes of the second half as Fairfield would tie the match 38-38 with 12:09 remaining in the game. From there, the Stags took control taking a 55-43 lead with 4:40 on the clock. However, Niagara battled back to bring the score within three points after a jumper by Van Leeuwen at the 1:31 mark. The Purple Eagles were forced to foul at the end of the contest as Fairfield went 5-for-5 in the final minute of play to close out with the 65-57 win.

Senior guard Meghan McGuinness finished her career with 1,283 points which ranks her tenth on the career scoring list at Niagara. The Lincroft, N.J. native also holds Niagara's all-time career three-point record as well as the all-time free throw percentage.

"Players like Meghan don't come around very often and I'm very lucky to have coached her," Faustin said of McGuinness. "She's a self-made player, she works really hard, she's a great student and she was a great leader for us. I can't say enough good things about her and it's impossible for me to put it into words what she has meant to this program."