OAKLAND, Pa.-- The Notre Dame Falcons snapped a three game losing streak and earned their first victory in 19 days after defeating Carlow, 79-43, at Donahue Pavilion on Tuesday night. (Box)
Junior center #Yvette Hunter# paced Notre Dame (7-5, 3-1) with 17 points and #Tracy Payne# chipped in with 10. Hunter went 8-for-9 from the floor, boosting her season field goal percentage to 66.3 percent (61-for-92).
Tuesday's game marked the first of 12 consecutive American Mideast Conference games for the Falcons. With their home-court loss, Carlow (5-10, 1-5) has now dropped eight consecutive games this season and 12 in a row to NDC.
On Tuesday, the Falcons took control early and never trailed in the contest. Carlow stayed within seven points for the first nine minutes, but #Kealy McNally# hit a 3-pointer at the 2:21-mark in the first half to cap a 12-0 NDC run and help the Blue & White pull away late in the first.
Notre Dame didn't let up in the second stanza, outscoring the Celtics, 43-22, and closed out the contest on a 29-13 run. The Falcons eventually led by as many as 37. They scored 33 of their 79 points off 29 Carlow turnovers, with the Falcons collecting18 steals in the contest.
The Falcons had been shooting just 30.9 percent (92-for-297) in their last four games but busted out of that shooting slump by shooting 55.0 percent (33-for-60) from the floor and 46.1 percent (6-for-13) from 3-point land on Tuesday.
With her 10-point performance at Carlow, Tracy Payne has now poured in 31 points over her last two games. The freshman guard from Danville, Ohio, has now posted five double-figure scoring performances this season. Three players (#Chelsea Andorka#, Kealy McNally and #Brittany Terry# all scored nine points to contribute to the NDC offense.
Danielle Lindsey led the Celtics in the loss; she tallied 10 points and eight boards.
NDC will head to Houghton, N.Y. for their next contest on Friday, Jan. 8. The Falcons will take on the
Highlanders of Houghton College. Tip-off in the AMC matchup is scheduled for 7 p.m.
NOTES FROM THE NEST …
CONFERENCE FOES: Tuesday's contest marked the first of two between Carlow and NDC in the 2009-10 season. The two squads will meet again on Saturday, Jan. 30, at Murphy Gymnasium. Tuesday's matchup was also the first between the two teams since Dec. 12, 2008, when Notre Dame defeated the Celtics, 87-60, at Murphy Gymnasium. … The Falcons are 2-1 in conference road games this season after going just 1-5 in six conference road tilts last season.
FALCON DOMINANCE: After Tuesday's victory, NDC has an overall record of 12-7 against Carlow, dating back to the 1998-99 season. The Falcons are riding a 12-game winning streak against the Celtics, last losing to CU on Dec. 6, 2003. The Blue and White are 5-4 all-time at Carlow. The last 11 games have been decided by 10 points or more. … NDC's 18 steals Tuesday mark their most in a game since coming up with 28 thefts against Franciscan on Nov. 22.
FOUR SCORE AND SEVERAL YEARS AGO: Notre Dame's victory prevented a four-game losing streak, which would have been their longest since January, 2002, when they lost seven in a row.
BIG-GAME HUNTER: Yvette Hunter came into Tuesday's game ranked third in the nation (NAIA-II) in field-goal percentage. Hunter is Notre Dame's all-time leader in field-goal accuracy. The Jamestown, N.Y., native has connected on 62.1 percent (371) of 597 attempts from the floor in her three-year career.
