Baltimore, MD—The Niagara Women's Basketball team opened their season on the road on Monday night as they traveled to Baltimore to take on Loyola (Md.). For the second straight season, Niagara downed Loyola to open the season.
Game Recap
First Quarter

• Loyola scored the opening basket, but the Purple Eagles tied the game up on the next possession as Aaliyah Parker drove to the hoop put the layup in for the opening basket of the season.
• After a layup from Maddy Yelle, Loyola went on a small run in which they took a 7-4 lead on three straight baskets.
• Niagara tied the game at nine at the 3:30 mark of the period on a Aaliyah Parker three pointer.
• The Purple Eagles drained just one more basket in the quarter and Loyola had a 17-11 lead after the opening quarter.

Second Quarter

• Sydney Faulcon opened the second quarter with a layup to make it a four point Loyola lead.
• With 5:21 left in the frame, Ary Hicks made a layup to make it 24-23 Loyola.
• Two minutes later, Niagara tied the game at 26 as Shelby Fiddler hit her first career three pointer from the corner to tie the game.
• The Purple Eagles took the lead once again with 1:36 left in the half but Loyola responded and went into the halftime break up five points.
• At the half, Yelle had a team high nine points while the Purple Eagles had six steals forced eight Loyola turnovers.

Third Quarter

• In the second half the Purple Eagles deployed their Hurricane Havoc defense and the full court press got to the Greyhounds.
• The sister duo of Aaliyah and Angel Parker hit back to back shots for Niagara to make it a one point game.
• After a missed Loyola shot, Lore Parker took a pass from Yelle and drained a three pointer to make it 35-33 Niagara.
• In the third quarter, Niagara outscored the Greyhounds 25-9 while forcing Loyola into 11 turnovers, Niagara scored 13 points off turnovers.
• Aaliyah Parker and Angel Parker had eight and seven points each in the quarter as Niagara led 53-42.

Fourth Quarter

• Loyola scored first in the fourth quarter to make it an eight-point game, but Niagara responded less than a minute later to take the 10 point lead back.
• The Niagara lead got as high as 13 on two separate occasions in the fourth quarter.
• The Purple Eagles registered four steals in the fourth quarter while forcing 10 Loyola turnovers.
• Five different Purple Eagles scored in the fourth quarter as Angel Parker led the way with four in the fourth.

Niagara Notes

• Aaliyah Parker led all scorers with 17 points in the first game of her sophomore season. She shot 7-13 from the field and added five rebounds. She was also +18 when on the court for Niagara.
• Angel Parker and Yelle both were in double digits for scoring as Parker had 14 and Yelle had 12.
• Hicks played the most minutes off the bench with 20:35 minutes, Faulcon was the top point getter off the bench with six points and three rebounds.
• Niagara forced 33 turnovers, last season they forced more than 30 turnovers on six occasions. The Purple Eagles notched 12 steals, last season they earned 10 or more steals in all but seven games.
• The Purple Eagles have won their last two season openers, both over Loyola (Md.)

Up Next

• Niagara starts the home slate of their schedule as they host La Salle of the A-10 conference on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:00 PM at the Gallagher Center.