The Bobcats couldn’t get it done on Thursday, as they lost to Niagara at home 63-58 in a tough loss to a gritty Purple Eagles squad. The loss ended Quinnipiac’s 10 game win streak.

The Bobcats are now at 14-4 in MAAC play. Two of those losses came against Niagara this season. Niagara is now on a three game win streak, with the Bobcats looking ahead to Saturday, where they will play Sienna on the road.

“Didn’t like us out of the locker room, dug ourselves out of a hole, had a couple opportunities to take the lead and just couldn’t come up with it,” Quinnipiac head coach Tricia Fabbri said. “Their style, they are truly relentless. They definitely disrupted us all night.”

The Bobcats were down two heading into the second half. Makenzie Helms stole the show defensively getting three key blocks all in the first half, while the Bobcats struggled with turnovers, having 30 total in the contest. 

The Bobcats struggled in the third quarter, scoring only nine points and giving Niagara its biggest lead of the night at 12 points heading into the fourth quarter. The Bobcats then scored 23 in the fourth, an impressive showing right up until the end, losing by a mere five points. 

“These are games we really love to play in, really competitive, we knew Niagara would be a tough matchup, definitely defensively,” said Bobcats senior forward Cur’Tiera Haywood, who led the Bobcats with 13 points in the loss. “It’s a fun atmosphere to play in, especially with a good crowd. We tried to get that win but unfortunately [it] didn’t happen. Onto the next one.” 

The Bobcats cut the Purple Eagles’ lead in the fourth, outscoring them for the quarter 23-16, but that wasn’t enough to get the win in MAAC play at home, a game in which they honored Tricia Fabbri and her 500th Victory. 

“The third quarter put us down,” Haywood said. “It was us trying to keep pushing, keep trying to stay cool and calm with the press cause we know they’re going to keep coming 

after us. Coach talked about all of those things to forward momentum into the fourth.”

The Bobcats still remain in second in the MAAC, with an overall record of 19-8, only behind Iona with two games to play before the big tournament in Atlantic City, New Jersey just two weeks away. The Bobcats hope to finish out the year strong, with momentum heading into the tournament.

“We’re gonna need everyone playing their best games, and playing at a top performance at this time of the year,” Fabbri said. “We’re getting close to win or go home Saturday night, it’s gonna be a big one.” 

The Bobcats will shake this loss off, and hope to rebound on Saturday at 7 p.m. when they take on Siena on the road, before returning home for the final game in the regular season against Fairfield on March 4.