LEWISTON, N.Y. – In the middle of winter storm Harper, the Fairfield University Women's Basketball team will brave the nearly foot of snow predicted in the Niagara Falls area as they close out their Western New York swing with a meeting at Niagara on Sunday at 2pm.
 
Both squads are coming off losses as the Stags dropped their fifth-straight game at Canisius while Niagara snapped a three-game winning streak with a setback against Quinnipiac.
 
The Stags dropped their contest 53-50 with the Griffs winning the game on a D'Jhai Patterson-Ricks 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining. That score capped a 10-2 run for the Griffs to end the contest. The Stags led for 24 minutes including heading to the final quarter. Sam Kramer gave Fairfield the advantage as she connected on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter. That was the start of eight-straight points for the junior.
 
It was the third time in the last four games where the Stags fell on a shot in the last minute of the game.
 
Casey Foley led the Stags with 16 points and tied a career-high with four 3-pointers. Foley attempted 15 3-pointers in the contest, tying for the third most in a single game in program history. Katie Armstrong led Fairfield on the boards with 10 rebounds, he first double-digit showing in her career.
 
Foley will enter the game at Niagara with 98 career 3-pointers. She is two long-range shots shy of becoming the 13th Stag to reach 100 made 3-pointers.
 
The Purple Eagles have found success on the defensive side as their opponents average 19 turnovers per game. As a result, Niagara averages 8.4 steals per game, ranking sixth in the conference. Niagara also gets to the free throw line, taking 11.4 free throws per game.
 
Niagara is led by Jai Moore who averages 15.2 points per game which includes 3.4 free throws per contest. Moore poured in a career-high 31 points in a game against Colgate on Dec. 31. Maggie McIntyre leads the team in shooting as she averages 2.4 3-pointers per game and is connecting on a 40 percent clip.
 
The Stags will close out their mini three-game road trip when they visit Iona on Thursday at 7pm.