Box Score URBANA, Ohio -- The Notre Dame Falcons continued their recent string of success on Thursday evening, with their fifth straight win, in a 73-53 victory on the road over Urbana.
The five-game winning streak for the Falcons (11-6, 7-4 MEC) is their longest of the season, and they've now won nine of their last 11 games, while the Blue Knights (1-16, 1-10) have now lost 10 in a row.
Early on, the Falcons had trouble making their shots, which allowed Urbana to develop an early lead. Notre Dame shot 22.2-percent (2-for-9) over the first six minutes of the contest, and Urbana took advantage, staging a 10-4 lead.
The Urbana lead grew to seven on a couple of different occasions, and the Blue Knights had a 15-8 lead with 10:31 left in the opening half, before the Falcons went on a 6-0 run over the next two minutes, which was highlighted by a pair of layups from
Martha Nagbe.
The Blue Knights hadn't trailed at all, until
Lauren Langenderfer hit a layup with 6:24 left in the half to give NDC an 18-17 advantage. From that point forward, the Falcons really began to hit their stride, and they shot much better, hitting 58.3-percent (7-for-12) of their shots from the floor over the final six and a half minutes in the opening half.
The game was tied at 25-25, with 2:09 to play after
Molly Ritz fed Langenderfer on a layup, which triggered an incredible 9-0 for the Falcons to end the half. During that run, Notre Dame buried four consecutive shots, with Nagbe scoring seven of those nine points, and Notre Dame took a 32-25 lead into the break.
Notre Dame shot 40.0-percent (14-for-35) from the floor, outrebounded the Blue Knights, 23-17, and took advantage of a number of second chance opportunities with 11 offensive rebounds. NDC also did a nice job of taking care of the ball in the opening half, committing just five turnovers.
Notre Dame's lead quickly grew to double digits over the first two minutes of the second half, as Langenderfer and
Celine Mangan both buried shots to give the Falcons a 36-25 advantage. Notre Dame did not trail the rest of the way.
While the Falcons controlled the opening 10 minutes of the second half, mounting a commanding 53-35 advantage with 9:50 to play, Urbana was able to claw their way back into the contest, as they drew well within striking distance.
The Blue Knights went on a big run of their own over the next three minutes of the contest, scoring 12 consecutive points to bring the deficit down to six (53-47) at the 6:39-mark.
However,
Alyssa Kraus hit a 3-pointer moments later, which began a 13-2 run over the following three minutes of the contest, as the Falcons found themselves ahead big once again, taking a 66-49 advantage with 3:24 to play, putting the game out of reach.
A trio of Falcons scored in double figures. Nagbe led the way with 19 points to go along with seven rebounds, including four on the offensive end. Langenderfer ended the game with 18 points, and
Jessica Garcia finished with 10. Ritz was big on the glass for Notre Dame, with seven rebounds, and was pesky defensively with five steals.
The Falcons are in action again on Saturday, Jan. 24, when they hit the road for another MEC contest against Wheeling Jesuit. The contest is scheduled for a 4 p.m. tip.
