PEPER PIKE, Ohio -- The Notre Dame Falcons scored a big road victory on Tuesday evening over cross-town rivals, Ursuline in an American Mideast Conference match-up as they exploded for the first 26 points, defeating the Arrows, 80-53. (Box)

The victory for the Falcons (19-5, 9-1) was their fifth in a row, and gives them wins in eight out of their last 10 games. The win also gives Notre Dame the season sweep and their 21st consecutive win over the Arrows dating back to Dec. 2, 2000. The loss for Ursuline (6-19, 3-8 AMC) marks their sixth in the last seven games.

Notre Dame jumped out to a 26-0 lead over the first five and a half minutes capped by a #Kealy McNally# jumper from the right wing. Ursuline would respond with a 13-6 run closing the gap to 13-32 at the 7:39 mark. The Falcons were able to push their lead to 26 points closing the opening 20 minutes on a 13-6 run. The Falcons went into the locker room leading, 45-19.


Both teams came out firing in the second half, trading baskets until #Tracy Payne# nailed a 3-pointer, making it 54-26. The basket would spur a 14-3 run by the Falcons, pushing the visitors lead to 36 (29-65) with 14 minutes remaining. #Ashanti McLeod# completed a trip to the foul line extending Notre Dame's lead to a game high 39 points (33-72) with less than nine minutes to play. Ursuline would chip away at the lead benefiting from four turnovers and 2-for-13 (15.3 percent) shooting over the final eight and a half minutes by the Falcons. The Arrows would trim the Blue & White's lead to 27 points as Notre Dame earned a, 80-53 victory over Ursuline.

After a hot first half where the Falcons shot 51.5 percent (17-for-33) from the field, including a hot 63.6 percent (7-for-11) from 3-point land, Notre Dame finished the game shooting 42.2 percent (27-for-54), including 48.0 percent (12-for-25) from 3-pointers. The Falcons converted 70.0 percent (14-for-20) from the charity stripe.

#Tracy Payne# led a balanced attack with 20 points on 6-for-8 (75.0 percent) from 3-point land. #Yvette Hunter# (11 points) and #Kealy McNally# (10 points, six assists, and five rebounds) rounded out the starters in double figures. #Lauren Macer# came off the bench to provide 12 points on 4-for-6 (66.6 percent) on 3-pointers.

The Falcons return to action on Saturday, Feb. 5, for an all important AMC contest against Walsh at the friendly confiends of Murphy Gymnasium. Tip-off set for 2 p.m.


NOTES FROM THE NEST….

ROAD RUNNERS: #Dick Deasy# has led the Falcons to 8-2 in road games in 2010-11. In the previous two seasons, NDC went 10-15 away from Murphy Gymnasium. During Deasy's tenure (2001-present) Notre Dame has gone 67-62 in road games. Their previous best record of 12-5 came in the 2005-06 season. They went 8-4 the following year.

PAST MEETS PRESENT: This Saturday, February 5, Falcon alumni return to Murphy Gymnasium for the annual Alumni Basketball Game. Tip-off set for 11 a.m.

CONFERENCE SUPREMACY: Twelve conferences are represented on the Top 25 poll released Monday Jan. 31. The American Mideast Conference garners the second most teams receiving national rankings. Daemen (N.Y.) leads a trio of AMC squads, at No. 10. One place behind the AMC leaders, Walsh moved up to No. 11 and The Lady Jackets of Cedarville hold steady at No. 15 … after spending two weeks in the Top 25, Notre Dame who is percentage points behind Daemen (10-1) and Walsh (10-1) in the AMC, has spent the last four weeks receiving votes (39) … The Lady Jackets, the 2009-10 regular-season AMC champions, finished last season as the No. 5 team in NAIA-II.