Purple Eagles off to 3-0 start

Lewiston Porter Sentinel, November 18, 2006

  
Michele Manfredi, left, and Shauna Ambrose, right, led the Purple Eagles in the
home opener against Colgate with a combined 47 points. (photos by Larry Austin)

Senior Shaunna Ambrose and junior Michelle Manfredi combined for 47 points as the Niagara University women’s basketball team improved to 3-0 on the season with a 71-64 win over St. Bonaventure Tuesday night at the Gallagher Center.

The Purple Eagles’ 3-0 start is its best since the 1994-95 season when it also won the season’s first three games.

Ambrose finished with a game-high 28 points while Manfredi tied her career high with 19 points. Manfredi also snared a team-high nine rebounds and led Niagara with three assists.

Ambrose scored 18 of her points in the second half.

Manfredi sank a jumper with 21 seconds left in overtime to help beat Cleveland State (0-2), 84-83, at the Wolstein Center Sunday afternoon in non-conference play.

Trailing 81-79 with 2:06 left, senior Chantelle Wilson sank her fifth three-pointer of the game to put Niagara up 82-81. Cleveland State’s Jessica Roque scored to regain the lead, 83-82. Manfredi then missed a jumper, got the offensive rebound and scored the game winner.

NU began the year last Friday with a 76-62 win over Colgate at the Gallagher Center. Freshman Jennifer McNamee scored all 17 of her points in the second half.

McNamee, whose mother Beth Duffy played for Niagara from 1979-82, sank three three-point field goals to go with six foul shots, as the Purple Eagles rallied from a 36-31 halftime deficit to win their season-opening contest.

Niagara was led by Ambrose with 22 points.

Niagara returns to action Sunday at 2 p.m. when it hosts Maryland-Eastern Shore in the Gallagher Center.

Women’s soccer season ends in tourney defeat

The season for Niagara University’s women’s soccer team (12-7-1) came to an end in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with a 3-1 loss to Penn State (16-4-3) at Jeffery Field, Friday. The Purple Eagles, fresh off their first-ever MAAC Championship, tied the game in the 74th minute, but could not hold off a late Nittany Lion surge.

Niagara won their first ever conference tournament and made it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.

Volleyball ends season

The women’s volleyball team (4-23) ended its season Friday when it lost in five games 25-30, 30-28, 20-30, 30-17, 8-15 to Iona College (9-21) at the 2006 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Volleyball Championship at Walt Disney World.

Purple Eagles look to rebound from loss

The Niagara University men’s basketball team (0-1) looks to rebound from its season-opening result when it hosts Valparaiso University (2-0) Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Taps Gallagher Center. The game can be heard live on WJJL (1440 AM) and seen and heard live on Niagara University’s official sports website at www.PurpleEagles.com.

The Purple Eagles lost their season and home-opener Thursday, 74-66, to Binghamton despite a career-high 21 rebounds by senior forward Clif Brown in non-conference action in front of 1,624 fans at the Gallagher Center.

Brown’s 21 rebounds were the most by a Purple Eagle since Kevin Jobity snared 22 against the University at Buffalo, Nov. 30, 1996. Brown also recorded 19 points to lead Niagara.

The Purple Eagles suffered from cold shooting, making just 5 of 34 three-point field goal attempts and 21 of 64 field-goal attempts. After a Brown three-pointer with 9:06 to play brought Niagara within one, 54-53, the Purple Eagles did not make a field-goal attempt until freshman Andrew Patterson’s with 37 seconds remaining.

Senior guard Lorenzo Miles added 14 points for the Purple Eagles while freshman guard Tyrone Lewis scored 12 points in his collegiate debut.