NORTH CANTON, Ohio -- Notre Dame snapped a four-game losing streak with an improbable, triple-overtime victory over Walsh on Saturday. The Falcons trailed by 16 at halftime and then came back to beat the Cavaliers, 102-97, in a 55-minute American Mideast Conference affair.  (Box)

The win gives Notre Dame (15-12, 11-8) a puncher's chance of reaching the AMC postseason tournament. As of 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, the Falcons were still awaiting word on other games from around the league, games that on the final regular-season Saturday would determine whether or not NDC finished the season among the top seven in the circuit.

The victory on Saturday came against a quality Walsh squad that had won five of its last six. The Cavaliers (21-9, 14-5) had been the AMC third-place team heading into Saturday's action.

“This was a heck of a game,” said NDC Head Coach #Dick Deasy#. “I'm so proud of our girls for hanging tough against a quality opponent like Walsh. We had some shaky moments in the first half, but after that was some of our best basketball of the whole season.”

Six Falcon players scored in double figures in the game, as Notre Dame scored a season-high 102 points. Freshman guard #Tracy Payne# had a sensational game for the Blue & White. Payne stuffed the stat sheet with 26 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals. On an afternoon that saw NDC make a program-record 30 free throws (30-for-42), Payne went 12-of-15 at the line.

The Falcons trailed, 40-24, at the end of the first half of play and looked to be headed toward the final 20 minutes of their season and a fifth straight loss.

But Notre Dame rallied with a 46-point second half with the team playing perhaps its best basketball of the season. That effort forced a 70-70 tie at the end of regulation. The Falcons were then knotted at 79-79 to finish the first extra session and at 89-89 to close the second. Notre Dame finally broke through, outscoring WU, 13-8, in the third overtime.

#Chelsea Andorka# and #Yvette Hunter# each had 18 points on the day. #Alex Dackin# dropped in 14, while #Kealy McNally# and #Taryn Wicks# chipped in 10 apiece. Hunter led NDC on the boards, grabbing nine rebounds, the most she's had in a game since Jan. 26.

Cara Bedard led Walsh with a 19-point, 14-rebound performance.

For NDC's Tracy Payne, Saturday's 26 points mark the most she's scored in a single game this season. The Danville, Ohio, native scored 21 against Beloit (Wisc.) on Dec. 30.

Heading into Saturday evening, the Falcons were looking for a Daemen (N.Y) win over Houghton (N.Y.) to put them in the AMC Tournament with the seventh and final seed.


NOTES FROM THE NEST …

WALSH-ING AWAY THE BLUES: Prior to Saturday's win in North Canton, NDC had been 1-4 in their last five games at Walsh. The Falcons are now 3-10 against the Cavaliers since 1999. 

EARNING THEIR STRIPES AT THE STRIPE:  NDC shot 71.4 percent on a season-high 42 free-throw attempts on Saturday.  Their 30 made free throws against he Cavaliers is a new program record, and this season's team currently has the highest single-season free-throw percentage (72.2 percent, 403-for-558) in Falcon history.