Flooks leads Niagara to win; Bona prepares for ranked Spartans
Published: December 20, 2009, 10:34 pm
Story tools:
Share this story:
A career-high 27 points from junior Liz Flooks led the Niagara women's basketball team to a 71-60 win over Akron on Sunday at the Gallagher Center.
The win helped the Purple Eagles (3-8) complete their first winning month since November 2007. A 13-0 run in the first 10 minutes helped Niagara to an 18-10 lead, then the defense took over. The Purple Eagles' zone held Akron (6-5) to 11.5 percent shooting from three-point range (3 for 26), including a streak of 21 misses in a row.
Flooks hit her career-high fifth three-pointer of the game with 1:44 left to push the Niagara lead to 67-52.
"She was unbelievable," NU coach Kendra Faustin said.
Freshman Kayla Stroman added 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and senior Jennifer McNamee had 18 points.
Niagara, which returns to action Jan. 3 at Siena in its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener, has matched its win total from a season ago with 18 games left.
Bona faces ranked Spartans
The St. Bonaventure women face their toughest test of the season at 6 p.m. today in a revenge-minded Michigan State team. The Spartans lost, 63-52, last season in Olean, a win that catapulted the Bonnies on a successful run that has continued with this season's 11-0 start.
Bona, one of 13 remaining unbeaten teams in Division I, ranks fourth in the nation in three categories: scoring defense (47.7 points per game), free-throw percentage (80.7) and three-point field-goal percentage (45.4).
The game will be broadcast at MSUSpartans.com and televised by the Big Ten Network.
No. 16 Michigan State (8-3) is coming off a 69-52 victory over Washington on Saturday.
Griffs hit the road
Both Canisius teams will take to the road tonight in an effort to end losing streaks.
The men's team will play North Florida (5:30 p.m., Radio 710 AM) at the Southern Miss Christmas Classic in its first visit to Mississippi. The Griffs (4-5) have lost three straight after dropping a 72-70 double-overtime game at Duquesne on Wednesday. It's the Griffs' first in-season tournament since the 2004 ECAC Holiday Festival in Madison Square Garden.
The Canisius women (5-4) have dropped two straight after Saturday's 67-42 loss at home to Bowling Green. The Griffs travel to Milwaukee to take on the Big East's Marquette (7-4), which dropped a 65-48 game to No. 23 Wisconsin-Green Bay on Saturday.
Benn questionable for Bona
Bilal Benn, Niagara's leading scorer and rebounder, is questionable for Tuesday's game against Big 4 rival St. Bonaventure at the Gallagher Center.
Benn has missed the last two games after undergoing knee surgery Dec. 8 that the school deemed "minor." He was expected to miss up to a month. But Benn, the only MAAC player averaging a double-double at the time of his injury, returned to practice last week with hopes of returning in time for the St. Bonaventure game.
The 6-foot-5, 205-pound swingman is averaging 15.6 points and 11 rebounds for the Purple Eagles (7-4). Niagara is 1-1 without Benn in the lineup.
Newsletters
Sign up now for daily and weekly newsletters from BuffaloNews.com and get quick links to the info you want delivered directly to your inbox.Reader comments
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Comments have been disabled.
Due to a high volume of submissions that violate The News’ guidelines, commenting is no longer available on this story. If you’d like to share your thoughts on this story, click here to get information on contributing to The News’ opinion pages.