LEWISTON — Chardonnay Hartley said after the game, with a laugh, “Everybody loves their own home.”
Niagara hadn’t played at home since a 71-69 comeback win against Stonehill on Nov. 19. And within those 13 days came a historical road trip for the Purple Eagles that concluded Wednesday — first LSU and UCLA in the Cayman Islands Classic on Nov. 24-25 followed by a 114-44 loss to Maryland.
But for the purple-and-white, defending its home court was the main priority, having won 19 of its last 28 games over the last two seasons. And like the game against the Skyhawks, Niagara needed one last strong push to finish down the stretch before starting a four-game road trip lasting 33 days.
Tied at 51 apiece with 2 minutes, 33 seconds remaining, the duo of Hartley and Amelia Strong — who had 17 points apiece overall — helped orchestrate a 13-2 run to lift Niagara to a 64-53 victory over Radford of the Big South conference Saturday at the Gallagher Center. Jada Pierce said it was a good moment for her players to return and play at home one more time before the end of the calendar year.
“I think, for them, it was just that comfort level of knowing that, ‘Hey, we’re going to have our fans there and our family is going to be there,’” said Pierce, whose Purple Eagles improved to 3-5, with all three wins coming at home. “They get a lot of their family to come to these games. And I think that made them feel good knowing that, ‘Hey, we’re gonna see some familiar faces tomorrow.’”
Despite not recording a win against LSU, UCLA or Maryland, Niagara had some positive points during the road trip. It outscored LSU, the defending national champions, 26-18 in the fourth quarter, and won the offensive rebounding category, 17-9. Then, they outscored UCLA, 24-22, in the third quarter, and, in both games of the Cayman Classic, recorded 17 points each off turnovers. And in the game against Maryland, the Purple Eagles recorded 26 points off the bench.
All of the points carried over for Niagara, starting in the first quarter as it shot a game-best 9 of 19 (47.4%) from the floor and shot 15 of 35 (42.9%) from the floor to take a 35-25 halftime lead. Making her eighth start of the season, Strong, who scored 11 of her points before the break, the road trip, especially against Maryland, had a good learning curve to apply starting with the game against the Highlanders and beyond.
“There were takeaways that we learned from (the Maryland) game,” said Strong, who recorded her fourth double-digit scoring game of the season and her first since a 13-point outing against Stonehill. “And, it was definitely communication and it was definitely putting defense first and really getting those stops, and energy. I feel like we lacked a lot of energy. We lacked a lot of oneness. And I felt like we definitely brought that to this game.”
Hartley, meanwhile, is an alum of the Big South after playing at Long Wood as a freshman, averaging 3.6 points per game and 16 minutes per game and appearing in all 29 contests. So far, with Niagara, the sophomore has delivered, including a key assist to Strong’s basket to give Niagara a 55-51 lead with two minutes left at the start of the late surge.
On top of Saturday’s efforts, Hartley was named to the Cayman Islands Classic All-Tournament team after she averaged 13.5 points and four assists per game. Like Strong, Hartley said the lessons from the road trip will pay dividends moving forward.
“We talked about it and we know the standard, so, it’s no more excuses,” Hartley said. “We know what it is. And I think that’s why we’re coming out better and stronger because we know what it is. These are good teams that we’re playing. And we had the opportunity to play these teams. So it’s just taken away from things and applying it to our game now as well.”
In the victory, Ary Hicks had nine points and team-highs with eight rebounds and three assists. Lore Porter added seven points. Niagara also scored 29 points off turnovers.
Angel and Aaliyah Parker were not in the lineup for the Purple Eagles. Angel has yet to play this season due to a knee injury while Aaliyah has not appeared since Niagara’s 92-75 loss against Buffalo. Angel is still out through the weekend, while Aaliyah needs further evaluation, according to Pierce.
“We were hoping you know maybe one of these two games but the report I got (Wednesday) was that (Angel’s) looking like being out for the next two,” Pierce told the Gazette Thursday. “So we just wanted to get healthy, get better and be able to get some first action out here for this year because she hasn’t seen any.”
Niagara will return to action in a road game against Cleveland State at 7 p.m. Wednesday, the start of a four-game road trip for the month of December, which includes its MAAC opener Dec. 16 against Iona. The Purple Eagles will next appear home at 11 a.m. Jan. 4 against Fairfield.