Box Score
SALEM, W. Va. -- Notre Dame downed Salem International (W. Va.), 66-51, on Thursday to extend its win streak to six games.

The Falcons (8-11) got 15 points from both Lauren Macer and Katie Stumhauzer and the NDC defense held an opponent under 60 points for the first time since Dec. 19.

With the road victory, Notre Dame has now won four straight away from South Euclid. NDC's six-game overall streak is its longest of the season and it ties the team's longest win streak from 2011-12 (Feb. 9-28). Thursday's contest also added to another streak: the Falcons are now 6-0 all-time against the Lady Tigers (3-16).

Notre Dame went 20-of-21 from the free-throw line (95.2 percent), where its two leading scorers on the night tallied a combined 16 of their 30 points.

In Thursday's tilt, NDC jumped out to a 14-3 lead over the first five minutes of play.  A staunch Falcon defense held the home five at bay, while a balanced Notre Dame defense produced at a steady clip in the early going.

By the 11-minute mark, the Falcons found themselves up by 16 (23-7).  Buoyed by a defense that held the Lady Tigers to a 7-of-37 shooting performance in the first 20 minutes of play, Notre Dame eventually went into its locker room with a 33-21 lead at the half.  But the late minutes of the first were a struggle for the Falcons.  NDC went 1-of-11 from the floor, committing six turnovers, over the final six minutes of the period.

Katie Stumphauzer had a big first half for Notre Dame, hitting 6-of-6 free throws en route to scoring 10 points.

The Lady Tigers came out strong in the second half, rattling off a 7-0 run to cut the NDC lead to five.  Back-to-back layups by Lauren Macer and Lauren Langenderfer put the Falcons on the board in the second and stemmed the tide of the Salem rally.  A pair of Macer free throws at the 12:44-mark got the Notre Dame lead back up to 10, 42-32.

A three-ball by Stumphauzer then extended that lead to 13.  Over the final 10 minutes, the Lady Tigers would get as close as nine, but Notre Dame's perfect night at the line was an antidote for any rallies.  The Falcons wound up winning by double digits for a third time in their last four contests.

NDC has now won four straight road games.  Another trend appears to be the team's ability to amp up its play in the second half of the season.  The Falcons are a combined 17-5 in January, February and March games over the last two seasons.

In Thursday's tilt, Macer scuffled from the floor, going just 3-for-14.  But the senior guard went 10-of-11 from the charity stripe in getting herself into double digits on the stat sheet for an eighth straight game.  Macer also had six boards and four steals on the night.

Stumphauzer got her season-high-tying 15 by going 4-of-7 from the field and 6-of-6 at the line.  She added seven rebounds.

Sophomore forward Molly Ritz had eight points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots.  NDC had eight blocks in the game, its second-most in any game this season.

Whitney McCargo had 11 points and eight boards to pace the Lady Tigers who had won two of their previous three games.

NDC out-rebounded SIU, 44-40. The Falcons have been a plus in rebound margin in each of their six consecutive victories.

Another common theme for the surging Falcons has been the team's performance at the foul line. NDC is frequently getting to the stripe (23.4 attempts per game since Jan. 5) and making foes pay for it (85.4 percent success rate, 140-of-164).

Thursday's NDC-SIU game marked the first of two meetings this season between the Falcons and Lady Tigers. The two teams are scheduled to meet again on Feb. 14 at Murphy Gymnasium.

Notre Dame will look to extend its win streak to seven with another road contest in the state of West Virginia on Saturday.  That game -- at West Virginia Tech -- is slated for a 2 p.m. tilt.