Box Score SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- The Hillsdale Chargers prevailed, 77-67, in a hard-fought battle at Murphy Gymnasium on Friday evening. (Box)

Notre Dame (0-3) displayed a solid defensive effort throughout against a Hillsdale (1-0) squad that returns four starters from a team that went 17-10 a year ago.  But a late surge by the Chargers broke what was an otherwise see-saw battle for much of the night.

Guard Martha Nagbe, a freshman from Lakewood, Ohio, playing in just her third collegiate game, had a big night for the Falcons.  Nagbe tallied a team-high 16 points and six rebounds while playing a solid floor game.

For the Chargers, guard Marissa DeMott led the way.  The sophomore guard netted a game-high 20, hitting a number of momentum-shifting buckets along the way. She was one of four Chargers to finish in double figures.

With the loss, Notre Dame has dropped its first two home games in a season for the first time since 2002. 

"We played good defense tonight and did a better job working our offense," said Notre Dame Head Coach Katie Hine.  "Hillsdale has a talented team, and I like the way we took some things away from them offensively and the way we continually battled in the second half."

In the opening half, the home five came out of the gate with a tenacious defense and held Hillsdale to a 1-for-10 mark in the Chargers' first 10 attempts from the floor.  When Danielle Ledrich converted a layup at the 13:06 mark in the first, Notre Dame held a 10-6 lead.

The Chargers, though, found their collective shooting stroke and went on a 10-0 run beginning at 9:27.  Notre Dame, which came into the game shooting just 30.4 percent (34-of-112) on the season, hit 4-of-5 shots down the stretch and went into halftime tied with the Chargers, 26-26.  A staunch NDC defense combined with a cold-shooting start by the Chargers resulted in Hillsdale shooting just 25.8 percent (8-of-31) from the floor in the first half.  The Michigan squad which ranked 16th (of 294) last season in NCAA-II shooting from beyond the arc (37.0 percent) went just 2-of-18 on 3-pointers in the opening stanza.

In the second frame, Hillsdale found twine on seven of its first 13 shots and with that improved shooting, worked its way to a 10-point lead (47-37) by the 13-minute mark. NDC whittled that lead to three after baskets by Tiffany Adkins (a 3-pointer) and Alex Dackin. The two teams then traded baskets until Marissa DeMott hit back-to-back treys inside the five-minute mark to put Hillsdale up six (67-61).

Those two 3-pointers were part of a 10-2 run for Hillsdale, a back-breaker for NDC after having stayed with the Chargers, toe-to-toe, for the better part of the second half. By the 1:20-mark, Hillsdale had run its lead back to 10 (73-63) and had effectively closed out the hard-fought contest.

Hillsdale shot 53.3 percent (16-of-30) in the second half, shaking off the rust and eventually beating a solid NDC defense which held its own on the perimeter. The Chargers knocked down 21-of-26 (80.8 percent) free throws in the game. 

For the game, Notre Dame shot a season-best 45.7 percent (21-of-46).  The Falcons hadn't shot above 33 percent in either of its first two contests.

Another area of considerable improvement for NDC came on the glass, where the Falcons out-rebounded the Chargers, 37-32.  Notre Dame had been a minus in rebound margin in each of its first two games.  

Tiffany Adkins pulled down a game-high eight rebounds for the Falcons.  Adkins matched that total with eight points.  Nagbe scored her 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor and a 5-of-7 night at the free-throw line.  She also stuffed the stat sheet with five assists and a pair of steals.

Hillsdale's Chelsea Harrison (five steals) and Lea Jones (six) combined for 11 steals in a game in which NDC committed 28 turnovers, 11 more than their guests from southern Michigan.

Danielle Ledrich was Notre Dame's second-leading scorer; she finished with 11 points.  Erin Entinghe went 5-for-5 from the field in adding 10 points.

Notre Dame will be back in action on Sunday when the Falcons travel to Painesville, Ohio, to take on the Lake Erie Storm.  Tip-off in the Sunday-evening game is slated for 6 p.m.


NOTES FROM THE NEST …

MEET THE CHARGERS: Hillsdale College is located in Hillsdale, Mich. (rural southern Michigan).  The College was founded in 1844 and has a present-day enrollment of 1,400. … In athletics HC is an NCAA-II institution and Charger teams compete in 12 sports (five men's, seven women's). … In women's hoops, Hillsdale went 17-10 last season.  The Chargers have been above .500 for each of the last seven seasons, posting a .689 winning percentage (135-61) over that time (2004-11).  All seven of those seasons have come with current head coach Claudette Charney at the helm.  Charney has been the head coach for the Chargers since 2003, and she came into the 2011-12 season 17 wins shy of 500 for her career.

GLIAC ATTACK: Hillsdale is a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  NDC's game against the Chargers represents the middle of three in a row against GLIAC foes -- the Falcons lost to Findlay on Wednesday; they will play at Lake Erie on Sunday (6 p.m.). … The GLIAC is split into two seven-team divisions in women's basketball.  Hillsdale was picked to place third in the GLIAC South Division in the league's preseason coaches' poll.  Findlay was selected to finish second in the South; Lake Erie was pegged for the No. 7 slot in the South.

OBSCURE STREAK SNAPPED: Prior to NDC's loss to Hillsdale on Friday night, the Falcons had beaten Michigan teams five games in a row.  Notre Dame's previous loss to a Michigan school was on Dec. 30, 2000 (to Alma).