Bridgeport, Conn. - The No. 7 seed Canisius College women's basketball team defeated No. 10 seed Niagara University 63-51 in the first round of the 2011 Spark Energy MAAC Championship at the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard on Thursday. Canisius improves to 11-19 on the season and advances to Friday's quarterfinal round, where the Golden Griffins will face No. 2 seed Loyola University at 9:30 a.m.
Senior Micayla Drysdale led Canisius with 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Sophomore Ashley Durham had 12 points and four assists in 24 minutes off the bench while freshman Jen Lennox had eight points in 19 minutes. Junior Steph MacDonald had 10 points, seven rebounds (five offensive) and three assists while sophomore Melissa Gardner had seven points, three blocks and three steals.
"This month is about surviving and advancing. We focused on not taking anything for granted today. Just because we had two wins over Niagara earlier in the season didn't mean we would get an easy win," Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. "A lot of people contributed in this win today, executing their roles and helping us advance to the quarterfinals."
Canisius scored the first eight points of the game, holding Niagara scoreless for nearly six minutes. The Griffs got two baskets from freshman Jamie Ruttle along with a 3-pointer from Drysdale in the early going to take an 8-0 lead. Niagara battled back into the game, scoring seven straight points as Canisius missed seven straight shots. A basket from Shy Britton cut the Canisius lead to 16-12 with 5:36 left in the half.
Canisius pulled away during the final four minutes, outscoring Niagara 13-5 in the final stretch of the first half. Lennox made a turnaround jumper that started a span where Canisius made seven of eight shots. Morabito had a 3-pointer, Drysdale and freshman Courtney VandeBovenkamp each made a baseline jumper and Lennox had the final four points to give Canisius a 32-19 halftime lead.
Canisius went without a field goal for the first nine minutes of the second half, as Niagara got as close as 34-33 after two free throws from Liz Flooks. A turnaround jumper from Ruttle gave Canisius its first field goal of the second half as the Griffs used a 6-0 run to create some separation. Niagara cut the lead to 42-38 after a layup from Flooks, but the Griffs wouldn't let the Purple Eagles get any closer. Canisius made eight straight free throws down the stretch to put the game away.
Flooks led Niagara (1-29) with a game-high 17 points while Britton had 10 points in 29 minutes off the bench.