Burlington, VT—The Niagara women's basketball team saw its season come to an end on Monday night in the second round of the WNIT as they fell to the Vermont Catamounts 69-63.
First Quarter
The Catamounts took a two-point lead in the first quarter as they outscored Niagara 16-14. Angel Parker scored a quarter high seven points as she went 3-4 from the floor and 1-1 from the free throw line. Alyssa Rossignol had four points while Destiny Strother had three points. Niagara forced seven turnovers in the quarter while having five steals. An. Parker, Strother, Chardonnay Hartley, Lore Porter, and Saige Glover each had a steal.
Second Quarter
Vermont outscored the Purple Eagles. Six different Purple Eagles scored in the quarter as Shelby Fiddler had three points while Amelia Strong, Aaliyah Parker, An. Parker, Glover, and Porter all had two points in the quarter. The Purple Eagles pulled down nine rebounds in the second quarter with five coming on of the offensive glass. Strong had five rebounds to lead all players in the second quarter. Niagara had three steals in the first quarter as Aa. Parker had all three steals for the Purple Eagles.
At the half
Niagara trailed by six at the break as An. Parker had nine points in the opening quarter with eight different Purple Eagles scoring in the opening half. Niagara forced 11 turnovers in the first half with eight coming from steals. Aa. Parker had a game high three steals while six Purple Eagles had a steal. Strong was the leading rebounder for the Purple Eagles in the first half as she pulled down five rebounds.
Third Quarter
The Purple Eagles made it a one-point game in the third quarter as they outscored the Catamounts 19-14 in the third quarter. Aa. Parker had a quarter high eight points as she went 3-6 from the field and went 2-2 from the free throw line. An. Parker had six points in the quarter while Strother had three and Glover had two. Niagara forced seven turnovers in the quarter while committing just one. Hartley had two steals in the quarter. Glover pulled down a team high three rebounds in the quarter. Niagara scored 11 points off turnovers and went to the paint for 10 points in the third quarter.
Fourth Quarter
Vermont closed out the game in the fourth quarter as they outscored Niagara 22-17. An. Parker had a team-high seven points while Marlie Dickerson had four points. The Purple Eagles had seven rebounds in the fourth quarter, Glover came down with five of the seven rebounds while Ary Hicks and Rossignol each had a rebound. Niagara went 8-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
Niagara Notes
· An. Parker finished the game with a game-high 22 points in her final game as a Purple Eagle. She notched her 1,499th and 1,500th career points in the first quarter and became just the seventh Purple Eagle to reach 1,500 points in a Niagara uniform.
· Glover pulled down 10 rebounds against Vermont, it was her fifth straight game recording 10 or more rebounds.
· Niagara went 19-19 from the free throw line in the game.
· The Purple Eagles close out the 2023-24 season with a 21-14 record. The 21 wins in the most wins for the Purple Eagles since the 2002-03 season when Niagara won 20 games.
· Niagara notched their first NCAA Division I era postseason win in the WNIT First Round with a win over Le Moyne on Feb. 22 at the Gallagher Center.
· Niagara finishes the season averaging 27.5 forced turnovers per game which currently leads the NCAA.
· The Purple Eagles averaged 15.1 steals per game, which led the country.
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