CINCINNATI, OHIO – Angel Parker scored a career-high 29 points, but the Purple Eagles couldn’t complete the comeback against Xavier, falling to the Musketeers 82-78, at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Angel added eight steals and six assists in the loss, while Aaliyah Parker scored 18 points and grabbed a team-high five rebounds off the bench for the Purple Eagles.
Game Recap
First Quarter
• Niagara and Xavier went back-and-forth throughout the opening frame, trading the lead a total of 10 times.
• Niagara’s first lead of the opening quarter came with 7:25 on the clock when Angel connected on her first 3-pointer of the contest to make the score 5-3.
• Less than a minute later – Angel would again connect from downtown to give NU an 8-5 lead over the Musketeers.
• After Xavier took the lead 13-12 at the 4:03 mark of the first, Niagara would spend the next two minutes of game action trailing the Musketeers.
• The Purple Eagles would retake the lead at the 2:19 mark, 16-15, after a layup from Kyra Grimshaw.
• Niagara would hold onto that lead until the 32-second mark when Xavier used back-to-back layups to take a 23-22 advantage.
Second Quarter
• Xavier would build its 23-22 lead to 27-22 to start the frame, forcing Niagara to call a timeout with 8:38 on the clock.
• An 15-4 Xavier run would give the home team a 46-33 lead with less than a minute to go in the first half.
• Angel would make two at the line to pull Niagara within 11-points before the first-half buzzer sounded.
• Xavier shot 55.0 percent from the floor in the second quarter compared to 27.8 percent for the Purple and White.
Third Quarter
• Niagara came out of the break scoring six-straight points with layups from Sydney Faulcon, Maddy Yelle, and Olivia Mason.
• That offensive burst helped Niagara trim the Xavier lead down to five, 46-41.
• By the 5:06 mark of the third quarter, Xavier again had a double-digit advantage.
• The Purple Eagles used the latter half of the quarter to get the Musketeer lead back to single-digits, 70-63.
• That’s where the score would remain, heading into the final period of play.
• Niagara outscored Xavier 18-14 in the third, led by Aaliyah, who scored six of her 18 points in the frame.
Fourth Quarter
• By the 4:21 mark, Xavier again had a 13-point lead, 74-61.
• That is when Niagara broke off a 14-4 run over the next 2:55 of game time to pull within three points, 78-75.
• During the run – the Purple Eagles went 5-for-9 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from the line.
• Xavier would make it 82-75 game with 13-seconds remaining before Angel connected on her fourth 3-pointer of the contest to give the game its 82-78 final.
Niagara Notes
• Angel’s 29 points is a career-high for the junior, surpassing her previous total of 26 set last season against Iona.
• The junior also recorded eight steals for the third time this season and the second time in as many games.
• Aaliyah reached double-figures for the fifth time this season and the first time since her 19-point outing at home against Colgate on Nov. 17.
• Kyra Grimshaw added seven points and four rebounds in nine minutes of action.
• Lore Porter went 2-for-5 from behind the arc to finish with six points.
• Niagara recorded a season-high 77 field goal attempts.
• The Purple Eagles recorded a season-best 21 steals.
• Niagara finished the game with 27 points off turnovers, 40 in the paint, and 22 on fast breaks.
• The Purple Eagles grabbed 33 boards, with five Purple Eagles grabbing three or more.
Up Next
• Niagara will return to the Gallagher Center to tip-off MAAC play on Dec. 17 and 19 with contests against Saint Peter’s and Manhattan.
