Sacred Heart hosts Dial and Niagara

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Niagara Purple Eagles (0-11, 0-2 MAAC) at Sacred Heart Pioneers (4-8, 2-1 MAAC)

Fairfield, Connecticut; Thursday, 2 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Niagara plays Sacred Heart after Talia Dial scored 20 points in Niagara's 81-72 loss to the Saint Peter's Peacocks.

The Pioneers are 2-3 on their home court. Sacred Heart has a 1-3 record in one-possession games.

The Purple Eagles have gone 0-2 against MAAC opponents. Niagara ranks sixth in the MAAC with 10.5 offensive rebounds per game led by Katarina Veljovic averaging 2.3.

Sacred Heart is shooting 35.9% from the field this season, 11.8 percentage points lower than the 47.7% Niagara allows to opponents. Niagara averages 4.1 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.6 fewer made shots on average than the 5.7 per game Sacred Heart allows.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Amelia Wood is averaging 14 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.1 steals for the Pioneers. Nalyce Dudley is averaging 12.4 points and 5.1 rebounds over the last 10 games.

Dial is averaging 12 points for the Purple Eagles. Caliana Fenceroy is averaging 0.9 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Pioneers: 4-6, averaging 56.8 points, 32.1 rebounds, 11.3 assists, 8.1 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 37.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 60.4 points per game.

Purple Eagles: 0-10, averaging 52.2 points, 27.3 rebounds, 8.4 assists, 10.9 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 31.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 86.9 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.