FAIRFIELD, CT — Niagara women’s basketball went on the road to start a two-game weekend against Fairfield and Rider. Niagara opened against Fairfield on Thursday and defeated the Stags 70-62 in overtime.
Game Recap
First Quarter
- Fairfield led following the first quarter by four as they had a 15-11 lead. Niagara put up 22 shots in the first quarter as they forced seven turnovers with five steals.
- Nickelle O’Neil led the team with four points in the first quarter. Maddy Yelle also had three in the first quarter as she drove to basketball and made it while also drawing a foul.
- Aaliyah Parker had just two points in the frame but collected four rebounds while the Purple Eagles collected 11 in the frame. Of the 11, six of them were on the offensive side.
- The Purple Eagles had eight points in the paint in the first quarter along with four points off turnovers.
Second Quarter
- After trailing by four heading into the second quarter, the Purple Eagles came out firing in the second quarter as they doubled up the Stags, 16-8.
- Aaliyah stepped up in the second as she had eight points on 3-7 shooting along with a three pointer and a free throw. Sydney Faulcon collected two offensive rebounds in the quarter and had four points.
- In the second alone, Niagara forced 12 Fairfield turnovers while having four steals. Brooklyn Jones had two steals in the second quarter while both Angel and Aaliyah also had a steal.
- Niagara scored 12 points off turnovers in the second quarter, while limiting Fairfield to zero off turnovers. Niagara also had 10 points in the paint.
- At the end of the first half, the Purple Eagles led 27-23 while Aaliyah had a game high 10 points. Niagara also forced 19 turnovers in the first half.
Third Quarter
- In the third quarter, the two teams were almost dead even as the Purple Eagles outscored the Stags 19-18 in the third quarter.
- The two Parker sisters took over in the third quarter as they combined for 16 of the 19 Niagara points. Aaliyah had nine points in the frame while Angel had seven points. Jones had the other three points in the quarter as she had a three point play on a drive to the basket.
- Niagara went 7-16 from the field which included going 2-4 from three and 3-3 from the line.
- The Purple Eagles also had two blocks in the frame while Jade Rutledge had one and Aaliyah had the other one.
Fourth Quarter
- Fairfield made up its five point deficit in the fourth quarter and held a two point lead with .9 seconds left. Following a held ball that was awarded to Niagara, Angel took the inbound looking to tie the game. Faulcon cut to the basket and took the pass from Angel and got the ball off before the buzzer went off. The basket counted and the teams were heading to overtime.
- Angel had four points in the frame while Aaliyah, O’Neil, and Yelle all had two points in the final quarter of regulation.
- Niagara forced six steals in the frame while, Angel, O’Neil, and Jones all had a steal.
- In the fourth quarter, the game was tied at four different occasions as both teams held the lead for just about four and a half minutes each.
Overtime
- The Purple Eagles opened the scoring in the overtime period on a basket from Jones.
- Niagara built a lead as high as eight before the Stags battled back to make it a five-point game, but that would be the closest Fairfield would get.
- Fairfield started to foul late in the period and Niagara hit five of six free throws to close out the game with an eight point lead.
- Jones had eight of her 11 points in the overtime period.
Niagara Notes
- The win for Niagara is the first time they have beaten Fairfield since Jan. 20, 2019, it was a 71-68 overtime win at the Gallagher Center. Niagara last won on the road against Fairfield on Jan. 4, 2015, with a 66-64 win.
- Niagara is now 1-0 in the newly built Leo D. Mahoney Arena and gave Fairfield their first MAAC loss in their new arena.
- Aaliyah finished the game with a game high 23 points while also pulling down 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season.
- Angel had 14 points in the win and is now just 16 points away from hitting the 1,000 point bench mark and becoming the 25th player in Niagara history to have 1,000 career points.
- Niagara forced 36 turnovers; it is the second most turnovers they have forced in a game this season.
- In nine games this season, Niagara has forced 30 or more turnovers which includes each of their last five games and seven of their last eight games.
- Niagara had a season high 36 points in the paint which brings their season average to 27.3 points per game.
- 27 of the 70 Niagara points came off turnovers, their season average is 24.73 points per game.
- With the win, Niagara becomes the first MAAC team to have five MAAC wins this season, they are 5-2 in MAAC play this season. Last season they were 3-4 through the first seven MAAC contests. It took 12 games last season for the Purple Eagles to reach five MAAC wins.
Up Next
- Niagara heads to Lawrenceville, NJ to close out the season series with Rider on Saturday at 2 PM.
