Box Score
SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- The Notre Dame College women's basketball team played their second home game of the season on Monday night in a Mountain East Conference showdown with the visiting University of Virginia-Wise Cavaliers. While the Falcons put together a valiant effort in the second half, it was too-little, too-late as NDC fell by a score of 78-71.

The Cavaliers jumped out to an 11-4 lead early in the game, but the Falcons swiftly responded with a 10-4 run and trailed by just one, 15-14, with 12:34 remaining in the first half. 

Both sides remained close on the scoreboard as NDC trailed by just four, 30-26, later in the first half. But the Cavaliers went on a 14-5 run in the final 4:15 of the first half, pushing the score to 44-30 at halftime in favor of UVA.

In the second half, the Falcons and Cavaliers went score-for-score as neither side had much success stopping the other. The Falcons found themselves trailing by 14, 60-46, with just 9:44 remaining in the game, but then turned it up a notch defensively.

Celine Mangan immediately responded with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to single digits, and the Falcons began to force turnovers and get stops defensively. A few minutes later, Molly Ritz hit a jumper to cut the deficit to just three, 68-65, with 2:41 left in the game. 

However, that's as close as the Falcons would come. The Cavaliers nailed their free throws down the stretch, and the Falcons' second-half comeback fell just short as NDC lost by a final score of 78-71.

With the loss, the Falcons fall to 2-2 on the season, including 1-1 in MEC play.

The Falcons will next compete on Saturday, Dec. 6 at home against the visiting Wheeling Jesuit Cardinals. The game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.