How Niagara is trying to find silver linings in its one-win season

Those seven Purple Eagles — freshman guard Nevaeh Otis, freshman forward Jordyn Williams, sophomore guard Safiatu Kolliegbo, sophomore forward Jemima Lacroix, junior forwards Talia Dial and Jade Rutledge and graduate guard Lore Porter — ultimately suffered an 86-43 loss against Sacred Heart.

“We’re learning lessons here, and we just got to start to figure it out and put it together,” head coach Jada Pierce told The Next. “It doesn’t matter about the number of who we have, it’s about the quality of which we are to play.” 

The Purple Eagles were the second-best team in the MAAC last season, and they took the eventual conference winners Fairfield to the wire in the MAAC championship game. Now, they are the worst team in the conference. Niagara hasn’t won a MAAC game yet this year, and its only win on the season was against Division II side Bloomsburg.

On top of that, Niagara’s trusted “Hurricane Havoc” offense has had some holes to plug this year — the Purple Eagles have averaged the second most turnovers per game in all of Division I with 25.4, Longwood has forced 0.9 more. They’ve also allowed the second most points per game, with 84.3. NC Central has allowed .2 more as of Feb. 4.

So, what’s happened to Niagara and what can they learn from this stretch of losses? The answer is in injuries, adjustments and slowly building winning habits.

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For starters, the two best players for the Purple Eagles are out. Senior forward Aaliyah Parker decided to redshirt this season, according to her personal X account, following an injury. The Cheektowaga, New York, native was Niagara’s leading scorer last season where she averaged 12.2 points and 5.4 rebounds (second on the team). 

Additionally, junior forward Amelia Strong has been battling an injury throughout the season which has limited her to six games. Strong showed what she can do at the MAAC Tournament last season, where she averaged 15.3 points and seven rebounds over the Purple Eagles three-game run and earning a nod to the All-Tournament team.

Those holes in the lineup have left Niagara with numerous unanswered questions.

“We’re still trying to figure some things out,” Porter told The Next. “Our teammates have risen to the occasion to help more.”

Those teammates that Porter hinted at include Kolliegbo and Dial. Kolliegbo leads the team in scoring with 13.8 points per game. Dial is third on the team among eligible players averaging 8.9 a game. 

The kicker is that both Kolliegbo and Dial are transfers. In fact, of the eight healthy players that the Purple Eagles played in its last game on Jan. 30 against Canisius, five of them were new to the program. 

It’s been a challenge, but the coaching staff has been there to help the new players adjust to Niagara, albeit during its worst season since 2010-11.

“Nobody likes to get beat,” Pierce said. “To be honest with you, it was really tough. But helping them, trying to fix things and get through stuff, is what we’re here for.”

There’s been so much that the Purple Eagles cannot control this season. But they have found peace in managing and maintaining the little things.

“Right now we’re focusing on taking things small. So, winning practices, winning workouts and stuff like that, and then building ourselves up to win[ing] games,” Porter said.

Porter, who is in her fifth year at Niagara, entered this year expecting to go back to the postseason and to challenge for the MAAC title. But that was not the case, and she’s starting to be okay with that.

“Sometimes things aren’t always going to go how you expect them to go, and you have to just go with the flow,” Porter said. “And I’m not normally a person that goes with the flow, I like to plan.”

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This year has certainly taught the Purple Eagles how to let go. But that doesn’t mean they haven’t been fighting. In fact, the coaching staff has taught the players how to fight like dogs.

“Regardless of the situation and what we’re going through, she just [says] dog fight,” Kolliego told The Next.

“We’re going to fight for every possession,” Porter said. 

The Purple Eagles have a long road ahead of them if they want to go to the MAAC Tournament. Although they’re focused on winning practices and developing small habits, to succeed this year, they will have to start winning games.

Next up for the Purple Eagles is Merrimack on Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. Then they play Quinnipiac two days later at 2 p.m. So much adversity has been thrown Niagara’s way, but it remains resilient.

“We’re teaching them about not just basketball, but the life lessons too of when you fall down, you got to get back up and get yourself off the mat,” Pierce said.

The Purple Eagles have gotten off the mat so many times this year. They just hope that, as they dust themselves off yet again, they can find the path towards a MAAC Tournament appearance.

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