Emmitsburg, MD—The Niagara women's basketball closed out the season series with Mount St. Mary's with a 80-63 win on the road.
First Quarter
Niagara jumped out to a 22-11 lead in the first quarter as Amelia Strong led all scorers with eight points. Niagara shot 50% from the field while hitting one three along with three free throws. Lore Porter had five points in the quarter as she hit a three along with a two pointer. Niagara forced nine turnovers in the first quarter while Niagara had four steals. The Purple Eagles had eight points off turnovers. Both Strong and Ary Hicks each had two steals in the quarter. Niagara had 10 rebounds in the opening quarter, Saige Glover had a team high two while Strong, Destiny Strother, Marlie Dickerson, Porter, Chardonnay Hartley, Kylie Buckley, and Hicks all had a rebound. 14 of Niagara's 22 points came from the paint.
Second Quarter
The Purple Eagles maintained their 11-point lead in the second quarter as both teams scored 19 points in the quarter. Niagara shot 52.9% from the field in the quarter while hitting nine field goals. Glover had four points in the quarter to lead Niagara while Porter had three points. Strong, Angel Parker, Dickerson, Aaliyah Parker, Alyssa Rossignol, and Hartley all had two points in the quarter. Niagara scored 14 points in the paint.
At the half
Niagara led by 11 at the break as Strong was the game's leading scorer with 10 points as Niagara was shooting 51.4% from the field. Niagara forced 13 turnovers in the first quarter as they had six steals. Hartley had five assists as the Purple Eagles had 14 assists as a team. Both Porter and Glover each had eight points while 10 total Purple Eagles had points.
Third Quarter
The Mount cut into the Niagara lead as they outscored the Purple Eagles 21-13. Niagara had 13 rebounds in the quarter with seven coming down with seven offensive rebounds. The Purple Eagles forced seven turnovers and had four steals. Rossignol had a team high five points in the quarter as she hit two field goals and one free throw. Aaliyah had four points while Angel and Strong had two points each. Niagara forced seven turnovers in the quarter, Aaliyah had a pair of steals in the quarter while Hartley also had a steal.
Fourth Quarter
Niagara pulled away in the fourth quarter as they outscored the Mount 26-12. Just before the midway mark of the quarter, Aaliyah notched back-to-back steal and scores as she surpassed the 1,000 point mark to give Niagara a nine point lead at the time. Aaliyah had 11 points in the quarter while having four rebounds and five steals in the quarter. Hicks had four points in the quarter while Strong had three and Strother, Dickerson, Glover, and Hartley all had two points. Niagara forced 14 turnovers in the fourth quarter with 10 steals as a team. The Purple Eagles held Mount scoreless for the last 2:25 of the game as Niagara finished on an 11-0 run.
Niagara Notes
· Aaliyah became the 26th player in Niagara history to reach 1,000 career points. It took her just 73 career games to reach 1,000. She joins her sister Angel in the 1k club, they are the only set of sisters in Niagara history to both score 1,000 career points. Aaliyah finished with a game high 17 points, a game high nine rebounds, and a game high seven steals. She is now just 15 rebounds away from 500 career rebounds.
· Niagara swept Mount St. Mary's in the season series for the second consecutive year since the Mount joined the MAAC ahead of the 2022-23 season. Niagara has now won six straight games against the Mount and are 6-1 all-time.
· The Purple Eagles set a new season high for points in the paint as they had 50 points in the paint. Niagara is averaging 31.8 points in the paint per game.
· Niagara had 37 points off turnovers which is also a new season high. Niagara forced 34 turnovers in the game which is tied for a season best.
· The Purple Eagles had 19 steals which is tied for the second most in a game this season.
· Niagara has scored 80+ points in three straight games.
· It is the first time in Division I Niagara history that Niagara has won three straight games when scoring 80+ points. It is first time since 1977-78 season that Niagara has won three straight games when and scoring 80+ points.
· Three Purple Eagles had double digit scoring, Aaliyah had 17, Strong had 15, while Porter had 10 points.
· Niagara took 75 shots; it is the third straight game with 70+ shots in a game. Niagara has taken 70+ shots in 10 games this season.
· The Purple Eagles led for 37:37 of the 40 minutes.
Up Next
The Purple Eagles return to Western New York to take on Battle of the Bridge rival Canisius on Tuesday with tipoff scheduled for 6 PM in downtown Buffalo.
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