Box Score
CEDARVILLE, Ohio -- Notre Dame saw its season-best six game win streak … and its season … come to a halt with a 66-62 loss to Urbana in a hard-fought Friday-afternoon tilt in Central Ohio.

Both teams traded rallies in a second half that saw the two sides break out of early-game scoring struggles.  Four Blue Knight players registered double figures in the contest.

“Both teams fought hard for this,” said Notre Dame Head Coach Katie Hine.  “It just wasn't the type of game where either team could shoot their way out of trouble, and when they opened a lead inside four minutes, we just couldn't punch back that time.”

The two teams shot a combined 35.2 percent (44-of-125) in a game dominated by strong defense through most of the action.  Notre Dame shot 33.3 percent (21-of-63) from the floor, its second-lowest single-game shooting percentage since Dec. 28.

“Sometimes the baskets don't fall,” said Hine.  “But I am proud of the way our young women battled and the way they improved through the second half of the season.

The 2011-12 season marked Hine's first at NDC.  Her Falcons went 5-8 in November and December and 11-4 in 2012.

The game between Notre Dame (16-12) and Urbana (14-14) was played at a neutral site -- the Callan Athletic Center in Cedarville, Ohio -- and the contest served as a semifinal in the Ohio Independent Championships, a late-season round of games between independent programs in the Buckeye State.  So, with their four-point victory on Friday afternoon, the Blue Knights will advance to the OIC final on Saturday.  They'll face the winner of Friday night's (5:30 p.m.) Cedarville-Central State contest; Cedarville is the tournament host by way of season won-loss record between all of the OIC contestants.

The Falcons struggled early in the game, missing each of their first eight attempts from the floor.  Notre Dame didn't log a bucket until Alex Dackin drained a three at 16:30.  The Blue Knights also started slowly, and that Dackin trey lifted NDC to a 3-2 lead.

Both sides continued to slowly trade baskets, with defense ruling the action.  By the 10-minute mark the score was tied, 10-10.  It wasn't until a Molly Ritz 3-ball at 6:55 that either team was able to generate a five-point swing.  That 3-pointer put NDC up, 19-14, and the Falcons would maintain at least a three-point lead the rest of the first half.  At the end of 20 minutes, Notre Dame was up, 26-20 in what was proving to be a defensive slugfest.

Urbana went on a 12-5 run to start the second, and that spurt put the Blue Knights up, 32-31. Minutes later, with the score tied, 35-35, a Ciara Geiger layup proved to be the first basket in an eventual 13-4 run for Urbana.  That stretch had the Blue Knights in control, 48-39, inside the 10-minute mark.  Geiger was solid for UU -- she scored 16 for the game and was one of four Blue Knights to notch double figures in the scoring column.

But NDC would rally.  Lauren Macer netted a bucket from beyond the arc at 9:45, and that three launched Notre Dame into a run of its own.  The Falcons gradually chipped away at the Blue Knight lead and by the 6:19 mark when Martha Nagbe hit a jumper, Notre Dame had regained the lead, 53-52.

The Falcons carried that lead inside the four-minute mark, but a Geiger trey at 3:18 tied the game at 58-58.

But down the stretch, it was Urbana that won the battle of volleyed layups, free throws and jump shots. The Blue Knights built their lead to five points by the 38-second mark, by a Molly Ritz jumper with 15 seconds remaining made it a one-possession lead (65-62) for Urbana.  But Notre Dame saw its win streak come to an end in the final 15 ticks, as the only digits to change were on Urbana's side of the scoreboard, with a pair of free throws in four attempts.

The loss marks the Falcons' first since Feb. 4.  In snapping a six-game winning streak, the defeat closed out NDC's 2011-12 season with team winning 11-of-15 games from Jan. 1-on.

Ritz posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.  She led the team in both categories and closed out the season in style, collecting double-doubles in two of her last four games.  Ritz was 5-of-6 from the field in Friday's game.

Lauren Macer scored 11 points and came up with three steals.  Martha Nagbe added 10 points and six rebounds.  Alex Dackin, playing in her final collegiate game, logged eight points and six boards.
“We showed heart and determination in these last couple months,” said Hine.  “We showed a glimpse of something I'm excited to be a part of in moving forward.”