Box Score It took an extra five minutes of play, but the Golden Griffins women's basketball team defeated Big-Four rival Niagara University on Wednesday night by a final score of 66-55. Canisius was led by senior Kayla Hoohuli who scored her 1,000th career point against the Purple Eagles. The guard had 26 points on the night, going 6-15 from the field and a perfect 13-13 from the free-throw line, increasing her career total to 1,003 points.
With the victory over the Purple Eagles, Canisius is now 5-4 in MAAC play and 7-11 overall. The loss drops Niagara to under .500 in MAAC play at 4-5 and to 8-10 overall on the season.
Along with Hoohuli, junior Tiahana Mills had a stellar game, hitting big shots for the Griffs including a game tying 3-pointer to send the game to overtime. Mills finished the game with 20 points, a career-high as well, on 7 of 14 shooting and three rebounds. Freshman Margaret Halfanardottir also had a nice game for Canisius, hitting clutch shots in overtime. Halfdanardottir finished with seven points and six rebounds.
The game started out as a tough defensive battle for both teams, as the MAAC foe's totaled just two combined points in the first 4:23 of the game. Both teams played pretty evenly for the rest of the first half, as Niagara entered the locker rooms at the half up 29-24.
The team's battled for the first 10 minutes of the second half and Niagara's lead was up to 13 points with 9:45 left in regulation when head coach Terry Zeh took a time-out. Over the next four minutes of play, the Griffs went on an 11-0 run to cut Niagara's lead down to two points with 5:26 left in regulation, as Hoohuli and Mills were all over the Niagara guards, recording two steals and a few lay-ups each.
Canisius ended regulation on a 9-7 run, highlighted by a Tiahana Mills 3-point dagger with 1:06 left to send the game to overtime. In the extra five minutes of play, the Griffs went on a 15-4 run to close out the game and secure the victory against the MAAC foe.
Game Notes: The 26 points for senior Kayla Hoohuli was a game-high and a career-high, Hoohuli's previous career-high was 23 points against Quinnipiac last season…Tiahana Mills also scored a career-high 20 points in tonight's contest, shooting 50 percent from the floor….the win against Niagara moves head coach Terry Zeh to 17-8 in his career against the Purple Eagles, having only more wins against Rider and Saint Peter's….the meeting was the 85th all-time between the two teams and Canisius now leads the series 50-35…the overtime game tonight was the first overtime game for the Griffs all season.
