Box Score
NORTH CANTON, Ohio -- After a 13-day layoff, Notre Dame returned to action on Wednesday, and the Falcons lost, 44-42, in a defensive tussle at Walsh.

The Falcons and Cavaliers combined to score just 35 points in a second half that saw both teams leapfrog each other throughout.  NDC was held to 13 field goals for the game, but its defense was stout in the team's first game since Dec. 5.

With the loss the Falcons (2-9) are now 1-5 this season on road.  Walsh (4-4) is 4-2 at home and has now won three straight contests.

The Cavaliers are now 13-5 in the all-time series between the two Northeast Ohio programs.

The 86 total points in the game marked the fewest in NDC history.

Notre Dame went just 5-of-22 from the floor in falling behind by five (20-15) over the first 14 minutes of action.  A Molly Ritz bucket at 5:08 sent the Falcons on an eventual 6-0 run, but Walsh rallied to reclaim its lead late in the opening period.  With both teams playing solid defense and sustained offense hard to come by, the host Cavaliers went into halftime with a 28-23 lead.

NDC failed to claim a made field goal over the final three minutes-and 40 seconds of the half, a stanza that saw the Falcons go 7-of-29 (24 percent) from the floor.  The Blue & White did force 14 WU turnovers in the first, but that effort was mitigated by the home five out-rebounding the visitors, 25-19.

The opening minutes of the second half were an even exchange.  By the 10-minute mark, the Cavaliers found themselves still up by five (35-30).  Lauren Macer and Courtney Clark then scored a pair of baskets not split by WU, cutting the NDC deficit to one (35-34).

With its defense leading the way, Notre Dame stayed on Walsh's heels.  After a forced turnover at the 6:40 mark, Danielle Ledrich connected on a field goal to vault NDC into the lead, 38-37.  Over the next few minutes the Falcons maintained the lead, building it to four before a three-point play by Tracy Payne made it a 41-40 NDC lead at the 4:14-mark.

Both defenses then took an even firmer grasp of the low-scoring tussle at Walsh's Alumni Hall.    The next points weren't scored for over two minutes, and when WU's Victoria Harris nailed a jumper at 2:01, the Cavaliers reclaimed a one-point lead, 42-41.

The Falcons then missed three straight shots over the next 90 seconds before Molly Ritz hit the back half of two attempts from the line at the 0:30-mark.  Then, with the score tied at 42-42, Payne got to the free-throw line for the Cavaliers with just five seconds showing on the clock.  Payne hit both of two throws, and Notre Dame then committed a turnover on the final possession of the game, yielding the end result: a two-point loss on the road in what was the program's lowest-scoring game (total points for both teams) in the program's statistical history (since 1998-99).

For the game, NDC shot a season-low 23 percent (13-of-57) from the field.  Those shooting woes included shots from 19 feet-9 inches and from 15 feet: the Falcons were 3-of-26 (12 percent) on threes and 13-of-21 (62 percent) at the charity stripe.

Notre Dame was a minus-four in rebound margin (43-39) and a plus-eightin turnover margin, forcing 27 turnovers to their own 19.  Lauren Macer and Molly Ritz were NDC's leading scorers; they both tallied eight points in the low-scoring affair.  Danielle Ledrich added seven points and eight boards.

Tracy Payne had 11 points to pace the Cavaliers.

Wednesday's loss sends the Falcons into another break -- NDC will next play on Dec. 29, when the Falcons visit Seton Hill (Pa.).