Niagara Tops Jaspers In Upstate Battle

Niagara University, NY - The Niagara Purple Eagles used a strong fourth-quarter performance to overtake Manhattan 61-51 on Saturday, January 5. The Jaspers now sit at 0-2 in conference and 2-11 on the year, while Niagara, with its first MAAC win of the season, is 1-1 in the league and 5-9 overall. 

Highlights:

• Tuuli Menna (Helsinki, Finland / Richmond) recorded a career-high 13 rebounds at Niagara, besting all players. She pulled down eight on the defensive end. 
• Both Candela Abejon (Gijon, Spain / USC) and Kania Pollock (Queens, NY / The Mary Louis Acacdemy) scored 13 for Manhattan. It was a season-high for Abejon, who added three rebounds, two blocks and two assists. 
• Eleven of Pollock's total points came in the first quarter, where she hit three baskets from beyond the arc to help the Jaspers to a 20-18 lead at the end of the period. She went 5-10 from the floor and 3-4 from three for the game. 
• Manhattan shot 50 percent as a team in the first half, including going 5-9 from three-point range. Though dropping to 33.3 percent in the second, the Jaspers went up by as many as seven in the quarter, and took a 30-27 lead into the locker room at halftime. 
• Though Niagara overtook the Jaspers in the third, they were up just two at the end of the period (42-40), and again halfway through the final quarter (51-49). But a 5-0 run by the Purple Eagles over the next three minutes widened the gap to 56-49 with a minute to play.
• Foul trouble also became a factor in the second half, as both Pollock and sophomore center Courtney Warley (West Chester, PA / Bishop Shanahan) fouled out of the contest. Manhattan suffered a 24-9 foul disadvantage, putting the Purple Eagles at the line 20 times, where they converted 13. Manhattan shot just four foul shots in the game, hitting two.
• Niagara shot 39.3 percent in the second half, including a 54.4 percent performance in the fourth, where they scored 19 points. In comparison, the Jaspers shot just 26 percent in the second half of the game.
• Jai Moore led Niagara with 15 points, while her teammate Emerald Ekpiteta put in 13 and pulled down 12 boards. 

Up Next:
The Jaspers will head to Siena on Friday, January 11 for an 11:00 a.m. tip-off with the Saints.