Niagara University, N.Y.—The Niagara women's basketball team hosted Fairfield with the possibility of sweeping the Stags in a season series for the first time ­since the 2014-15 season. Niagara and Fairfield played to overtime but the Purple Eagles got the last laugh as they won 65-56.
Game Recap
First Quarter

• Niagara took the lead right at the minute mark and led until the game was tied in the fourth quarter. The Purple Eagles built a 18-10 lead in the opening 10 minutes.
• Six different Purple Eagles recorded points in the first. Aaliyah Parker led the Purple Eagles with five points. Angel Parker and Sydney Faulcon both had four points as the Purple Eagles went 5-11 from the floor in the first.
• The Hurricane Havoc defense was strong right from the start as the Purple Eagles forced eight turnovers and turned it into eight points. Niagara recorded four steals with Aaliyah having three and Maddy Yelle having the other.
• Niagara also had eight points in the pain and drew seven fouls. Niagara went to the line eight times in the first and hit seven of the free throws.

Second Quarter

• Fairfield narrowed the leading into halftime as they outscored Niagara 14-8 in the second quarter.
• Faulcon had four points lead the Purple Eagles in the second quarter as Angel had two and Jade Rutledge had two.
• All eight of Niagara's points were off turnovers as Niagara forced five turnovers. Faulcon and Angel were credited with steals while Angel also had a chase down block late in the frame.
• The Purple Eagles pulled down nine boards which included seven on the defensive side. Rutledge and Lore Porter had two while Angel, Aaliyah, Faulcon, Brooklyn Jones, and Ary Hicks all had one rebound.

Third Quarter

• Out of the break Niagara grew its lead to as high as 10 in the third quarter as they outscored the Stags 12-7 in the frame.
• Nickelle O'Neil started to heat up as she went 3-5 from the field for six points to lead all scorers.
• Niagara also forced 12 Stag turnovers with the help of six steals. O'Neil also played a huge role on the defense as she had three steals.
• The Purple Eagles out rebounded the Stags 10-7 in the frame while both Angel and Hicks pulled down four apiece.

Fourth Quarter

• Fairfield made up a seven point deficit in the fourth quarter as they outscored Niagara 22-15 in the fourth to force overtime.
• Falucon's season best game continued in the fourth as she had five points on two field goals and a free throw. Aaliyah had four points in just five minutes as she was in foul trouble late in the game.
• There were just a combined four turnovers in the frame as Niagara forced three of the four. Rutledge recorded two blocks in the quarter. Rutledge also had two steals while O'Neil haft e other.
• Niagara scored all of its field goals in the paint while hitting three free throws.

Overtime

• The Purple Eagles came out in overtime and outscored the Stags 12-3 despite both teams shooting under 30%. Niagara held Fairfield to 1-10 shooting in the extra period.
• O'Neil scored five of the 12 Niagara points while Aaliyah and Angel had two, Yelle also had three points after being fouled on a layup she made.
• Niagara forced four turnovers in overtime with Angel being credited with two steals.
• The Purple Eagles closed the game on a 7-0 scoring run to secure the win.

Niagara Notes

• Faulcon led the Purple Eagles in scoring for the first time this season as she had a season high 13. She shot 6-10 and pulled down five rebounds in the game.
• The Purple Eagles have now surpassed their amount of MAAC wins from a season ago. The Purple Eagles sit at 12 conference wins which is the second most in program history. In 2002-03 season Niagara went 13-5 in MAAC play for it's most MAAC wins in program history.
• Niagara forced 32 turnovers while scored 31 points off the turnovers. It is the 14^th time this season that Niagara had forced 30 or more turnovers in game. It is also the sixth time this season the Purple Eagles have scored 30 or more points off turnovers.
• The Purple Eagles scored 60 or more points in its 16^th game of the season against Fairfield. In those 16 games Niagara is 13-3. The Purple Eagles are now 10-2 this season after leading at halftime.
• Niagara had five blocks and are 11-1 this season when they have more blocks.
• The Purple Eagles scored 36 points in the paint, they are averaging 29.8 points per game in the paint.
• Niagara sits in third place in the MAAC standings at 12-4, they still have a game in hand against Quinnipiac and Siena who sit in second and fourth respectively. Niagara plays both teams once more this season.
• The Parkers still sit one and two in MAAC scoring after Aaliyah had 11 points on Sunday and Angel 10. Aaliyah is first in the MAAC with 17.3 points per game while Angel is at 16.5 points per game.
• As a team Niagara is second in the MAAC in scored at 65.3 points per game.

Up Next

• The Purple Eagles hit the road for their final road trip of the regular season. They face Quinnipiac on Thursday and Marist on Saturday.