Niagara Purple Eagles | |||
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University | Niagara University | ||
Head coach | Jada Pierce (9th season) | ||
Conference | MAAC | ||
Location | Lewiston, New York | ||
Arena | Gallagher Center (Capacity: 2,400) | ||
Nickname | Purple Eagles | ||
Colors | Purple and white [1] | ||
Uniforms | |||
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AIAW tournament Final Four | |||
Division II: 1979 | |||
AIAW tournament Elite Eight | |||
Division II: 1979 | |||
AIAW tournament appearances | |||
Division II: 1979, 1980 | |||
WNIT Tournament Appearances | |||
2023 |
The Niagara Purple Eagles women's basketball team is the college basketball team that represent Niagara University in Lewiston, New York, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. They are one of over fifty teams to have never reached the NCAA Division I tournament.
Niagara began play in 1974. They joined the MAAC in 1989. They have never made the NCAA tournament. Their brief achievements came in regional AIAWs, such as winning the New York AIAW Championship in 1978 and 1980 and the Eastern AIAW in 1979, with a Third Place finish in the AIAW Small College tournament. They made it to the ECAC North title game in 1986, losing to St. Anslem's 77–65 and lost to Saint Peter's 66–38 in the 1997 MAAC title game. They have reached the second round of the MAAC tournament numerous times but have never won it. As of the end of the 2015–16 season, the Purple Eagles have an all-time record of 456–575. In 2023 Niagara made history by reaching the WNIT tournament for the first time in program history. The Purple Eagles would ultimately fall to Green Bay in their first appearance in the tournament ending one of the best seasons in the history of Niagara women's basketball. [2]
The Purple Eagles made two appearances in the AIAW National Division II Basketball Tournament, with a combined record of 3–2.
Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
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1979 | First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Third-place game | San Francisco Charleston (WV) Dayton Tuskegee | W, 56–52 W, 78–73 L, 59–76 W, 71–55 |
1980 | First round | Saint Peter's | L, 55–75 |
The Purple Eagles have appeared in 1 Women's National Invitation Tournament.
Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
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2023 | First Round | Green Bay | L, 52-84 |
2023–24 Niagara Purple Eagles women's basketball team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Roster |
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The Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team is the college basketball team that represents Niagara University in Lewiston, New York, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The team formerly played at the now-defunct Niagara Falls Convention and Civic Center from 1973 to 1982 and from 1988 to 1996.
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The 2016–17 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team represented Niagara University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Eagles, led by fourth year head coach Chris Casey, played their home games at the Gallagher Center in Lewiston, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. They finished the season 10–23, 6–14 in MAAC play to finish in ninth place. They defeated Quinnipiac in the first round of the MAAC tournament to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to Monmouth.
The 2017–18 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team represented Niagara University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Eagles, led by fifth-year head coach Chris Casey, played their home games at the Gallagher Center in Lewiston, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. They finished the season 19–14, 12–6 in MAAC play to finish in third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the MAAC tournament to Fairfield. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they lost in the first round to Eastern Michigan.
The 2018–19 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team represented Niagara University in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They played their home games at the Gallagher Center in Lewiston, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and were led by 6th-year head coach Chris Casey. They finished the 2018–19 season 13–19 overall, 6–12 in MAAC play to finish in a three-way tie for ninth place. As the 11th seed in the 2019 MAAC tournament, they were defeated by No. 6 seed Monmouth in the first round 72–76.
The 2019–20 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team represented Niagara University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Eagles, led by 1st-year head coach Greg Paulus, played their home games at the Gallagher Center in Lewiston, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. They finished the season 12–20 overall, 9–11 in MAAC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. As the #6 seed in the MAAC tournament, they defeated #11 seed Marist 56–54 in the first round. Before they could face #3 seeded Rider in the MAAC tournament quarterfinals, all postseason tournaments were cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team represented Niagara University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Eagles, led by second-year head coach Greg Paulus, played their home games at the Gallagher Center in Lewiston, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. They finished the season 9–11, 7–9 in MAAC play to finish in a tie for fifth place. As the No. 5 seed in the MAAC tournament, they defeated No. 4 seed Marist in the quarterfinals, but lost to No. 9 seed Iona 64–70 in the semifinals.
The 2021–22 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team represented Niagara University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Eagles, led by third-year head coach Greg Paulus, played their home games at the Gallagher Center in Lewiston, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
The 2022–23 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team represented Niagara University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Eagles, led by fourth-year head coach Greg Paulus, played their home games at the Gallagher Center in Lewiston, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Mike Granelli is a retired teacher and coach who primarily worked at Hoboken High School and Saint Peter's College. With Hoboken between 1964 and 1995, Granelli had 60 wins and 14 losses in soccer matches while he primarily taught physical education. At Saint Peter's College, Granelli had 161 wins, 119 losses and 26 ties between 1970 and 1989. During this time period, he received the Coach of the Year award twice as part of the Tri-State Soccer Conference.
The 2006–07 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team represented Niagara University during the 2006–07 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Eagles, led by ninth-year head coach Joe Mihalich, played their home games at the Gallagher Center in Lewiston, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. They finished the season 23–12, 13–5 in MAAC play to finish in second place. They defeated Rider, Loyola, and Siena to win the MAAC tournament and secure the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as one of two 16 seeds in the West region. The Purple Eagles defeated Florida A&M, 77–69, in the Play-in Game to reach the field of 64 where No. 1 seed Kansas dominated Niagara by the score of 107–67.
The 2023–24 Niagara Purple Eagles women's basketball team represents Niagara University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Purple Eagles, led by ninth-year head coach Jada Pierce, play their home games at the Gallagher Center in Lewiston, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.