Lawrenceville, NJ — The Niagara women’s basketball notched their sixth MAAC win of the season as they downed the Rider Broncs on Saturday afternoon. The Purple Eagles built an early lead and finished with a 67-55 win over the Broncs.
Game Recap
First Quarter
- The Purple Eagles flew out to a 14-7 lead in the first quarter. Angel Parker had a game high six points in the first quarter as she inched closer to 1,000 career points. She also had three steals in the opening 10 minutes.
- As a team, the Purple Eagles forced nine turnovers to open the game, Niagara had six steals in the first. Angel had three steals while Aaliyah Parker, Nickelle O’Neil, and Amelia Strong all recorded steals.
- The three ball was working early for the Purple Eagles as they went from 3-5 from behind the arc.
- Aaliyah, Brooklyn Jones, and Strong all had points in the opening frame as the Purple Eagles led. They also had eight points off turnovers and seven on the fast break.
Second Quarter
- Niagara’s scoring continued into the second quarter as they built on their lead by outscoring Rider 22-13 in the second quarter.
- Lore Porter led the way with six points in the second frame ad she hit a three along with a two and free throw. As a team Niagara went 3-6 from behind the arc and hit five of seven free throws.
- Aaliyah had three points while Angel had three points to put her at 996 career points. In total seven Purple Eagles had points in the frame.
- Niagara forced eight turnovers in the quarter and scored nine points off of them. Jones, Strong, Angel, and Maddy Yelle had steals in the second.
- After 20 minutes of play, Niagara had a 36-20 lead as Angel had a game high 11 and the Purple Eagles forced 17 turnovers.
Third Quarter
- Angel became the 25th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points as she hit a free throw with just over 53 seconds left in the frame.
- Rider came out of the halftime break and fought back into the game as they outscored the Purple Eagles 21-12 in the frame.
- Angel had a team high five points while Aaliyah had four points. Jones chipped in two points in the frame while Jade Rutledge hit a free throw.
- Niagara had just three steals in the third as both Parkers had one and Yelle had one.
- The Purple Eagle lead grew to a game high 22 at the 7:53 mark of the frame.
Fourth Quarter
- Niagara still held a lead into the fourth but took no chances in the final quarter as they outscored the Broncs 19-14 in the frame.
- Aaliyah led the team in the fourth as she had six points, while Angel had four points. Sydney Faulcon also had four points, while O’Neil, Jones and Yelle also scored.
- Niagara forced 12 turnovers in the frame and used them to score 12 points off turnovers. They also had 12 points in the paint.
- The Purple Eagles held the lead for the whole fourth quarter.
Niagara Notes
- With Angel hitting 1,000 career points she becomes the 25th Purple Eagle to hit the marker. She is the first Niagara player to reach 1,000 since Jai Moore hit 1,000 in the 2019-20 season.
- Niagara opened the scoring 36 seconds into the game on an Angel three and never looked back as they led the entire game and were never tied with the Broncs.
- The Purple Eagles are now 6-2 in MAAC play this season and are the first team to hit six conference wins.
- In games in which they lead at halftime, the Purple Eagles are 6-2 this season.
- Niagara had 29 points off turnovers and now average 25.3 points off turnovers this season.
- The Purple Eagles also had 28 points in the paint in the game and are now averaging 27.4 points in the paint. They have scored 25 or more points in the paint in four straight games and five of the last six games.
Up Next
- Niagara returns to Western New York as they host Manhattan on Thursday, Jan. 19 at the Gallagher Center. Niagara has next weekend off before hosting Canisius on Jan. 25.
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