Niagara 52, Canisius 49
How Niagara Won: The Purple Eagles wanted it more. They outrebounded Canisius, 23-11, on the offensive end and scored 21 second-chance points to just 6 for the Golden Griffins. In a game both teams struggled to score, those points proved huge.
Turning Point: Back-to-back three-pointers from Meghan Waterman and Ali Morris about 6 minutes into the second half stretched a 30-29 lead to 36-29 for Niagara and gave the Purple Eagles some much-needed swagger on offense.
Player of the Game:Niagara freshman Kayla Stroman had the reigning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year in Canisius' Brittane Russell hounding her all day. Stroman still found a way to score a team-high 11 points, including the clutch field goal with 19 seconds left to give NU a 50-46 lead.Stroman stepped up to a big challenge.
Stat of the Game:Canisius senior forward Ellie Radke shot just 1 of 12 from the field. Canisius needed more from its second-leading scorer, and probably would have won if it had gotten some.
He said it:"I thought they played a lot harder than us in a lot of ways. Their effort shows in their offensive rebounds. ... They deserved to win that basketball game, we did not." -- Canisius coach Terry Zeh
In the house: The Gallagher Center was packed full of 2,400 screaming Niagara fans. It was Kid's Day, the third straight sellout for the event, and the youngsters were definitely heard.
Up next:Niagara goes for its fourth straight win and six in the last seven games when it hosts Rider at 2 p.m. Saturday. Canisius hosts Loyola at 4 p.m. Saturday.
--- Jay Skurski
tagged
Canisius | College basketball | Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference | Niagara
