NORTH CANTON, Ohio -- After erasing a seven-point first-half and claiming a five-point lead with two minutes to play, Notre Dame was knocked off by Walsh, 64-60, on Saturday.  (Box)

Senior forward #Jamie Henry# led the Falcons with 14 points and six rebounds despite losing a number of first-half minutes to foul trouble. Fellow senior #Erika Falcone# continued her fine play as of late. She added nine points and six boards. Falcone was also credited with an excellent defensive performance by the NDC coaching staff, and on an afternoon when the Falcons played solid team defense to hold a quality Cavalier team in check.

Freshman point guard Chelsea Griffin went 15-of-17 at the free throw line and led all scorers, with 24. Sophomore forward Katie Berry added 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

With the loss, Notre Dame (17-11, 7-6) has now dropped six of their last eight games. The Falcons fall to 4-5 on the road in what was their first road tilt since Jan. 24. They have now lost three straight road games.

The victory for Walsh (18-9, 11-2) is their fourth in a row and eighth in their last nine games. With a win in the close game, the AMC's second-place team is now 5-0 this season in games decided by five points or less. The Cavaliers ran their home record to 8-2.

Notre Dame trailed by seven (35-28) at the half, but when their shots started to fall in the second the Blue & White got back into the game. A high-pressure NDC defense kept Walsh at bay, and the Falcons parlayed that with good bench play and hot shooting to take a five-point lead with two minutes remaining in the contest.

Walsh started their comeback with a 3-pointer. That was followed by two straight unsuccessful NDC possessions and then a slew of WU foul shots, as the Cavaliers prevailed.

For the game, Notre Dame shot 35.4 percent (23-for-65) from the field. Walsh shot 38.9 percent (21-for-54). The Cavaliers outscored NDC at the line, 20-9. Led by Chelsea Griffin's performance, Walsh went 20-for-23 (87.0 percent) at the stripe. The Cavaliers out-rebounded the Falcons, 43-38. Notre Dame won the turnover bout, 24-19.

Saturday's game at Walsh kicked off a grueling three-game stretch for NDC that will close out their regular season. Next weekend, Notre Dame will face two more quality opponents – the nationally ranked Shawnee State Bears and the Rio Grande Red Storm. Coming into Saturday, Walsh, Shawnee and Rio had a combined record of 60-19 (.759).

The first of those games will be on Friday, when NDC visits No. 2 SSU. Tip-off in Portsmouth, Ohio, is scheduled for 6 p.m.

That three-game road trip, which began Saturday at Walsh, will decide the postseason fate of the Falcons, who began the day in sixth place in the AMC. For the Blue & White to qualify for their sixth straight postseason, Notre Dame will need to finish in the league's top-eight.


NOTES FROM THE NEST…

MAKING HER POINT: Senior guard #Ashley Carney# scored nine points at Walsh Saturday afternoon. That moves her within two points of taking over third-place on the Falcon's all-time scoring list. In her four-year NDC career, Carney has scored 1,884 points. With two more points she will pass Joni DePiore, who scored 1,385 points from 1993 to 1997.

WOMAN OF STEAL: Junior guard #Amanda Brown# picked up seven steals in North Canton. That's her second-highest total for a single game this season. Brown collected eight steals against Carnegie-Mellon (Pa.) on Nov. 30. … For the season, the 5-foot-7 co-captain has a team-high 91 thefts. She came into Saturday's game ranked 16th in the nation in steals, with 3.1 per game.

CAV MUSCLE: With their home court win on Saturday, Walsh is now 10-2 over NDC in the last 10 years (1999-present). Over that same time, the Cavaliers are 4-1 when hosting the Falcons in North Canton. Prior to Saturday's game, the last meeting between the two programs was Nov. 11, 2006, an 84-62 win for NDC in South Euclid.

WINTER OF DISCONTENT: Notre Dame has now lost six of their last eight games. The last time the Falcon program endured such a stretch was when they lost six of eight in January and February of 2003. … With their loss at Walsh, NDC falls to 4-5 on the road. The last time the Falcons finished under .500 on the road was the same season, 2002-03.