Box Score
Tournament Central
CHARLESTON, W.Va -- It was a tale of two halves for the Falcons as they faced the Charleston Golden Eagles on Friday afternoon in the Mountain East Conference Quarterfinals. The Falcons trailed for the majority of the first half, but responded in impressive fashion in the second half to escape with a 65-55 win over Charleston and now will advance to the MEC Semifinals.

Defense was the name of the game early between both sides, as the score was tied at just nine after a 3-pointer from Kim Cook with 10:07 left in the half.

While the first 10 minutes of the first half were an even battle, the second 10 minutes were controlled by the Golden Eagles. Following Cook's 3-pointer, Charleston used a 16-6 run to take a 25-15 lead over the Falcons with 2:21 left in the half.

NDC couldn't close the gap in the remainder of the first half, going into the break trailing by double-digits, 30-19.

Considering the Falcons were 2-0 against the Golden Eagles during the season, NDC had seemingly run out tricks to use against Charleston. However, head coach Katie Hine and her staff made adjustments to NDC's gameplan at halftime and regrouped. As the play-by-play broadcaster said during the game, "Whatever Coach Hine said to her team at halftime should be bottled and sold in stores," because it certainly worked.

The Falcons opened the second half with a 3-pointer and lay-up from Kelsey Miller, cutting the deficit to just six. After a basket from Charleston, an and-one play from Martha Nagbe - the reigning MEC Player of the Year - cut the deficit to just five, 32-27.

However, the Golden Eagles responded with a mini 6-2 advantage, taking a 38-29 lead over the Falcons with 14:09 to go.

Trailing by nine with 14:09 to go and their season on the line, the Falcons made the conscience decision that this would not be their final game.

Miller scored five straight points and Nagbe drilled a three to spark the Falcons and begin an offensive avalanche from NDC.

Molly Ritz then scored on a lay-up and was fouled in the process, making the free throw to complete the and-one and cut the deficit to 40-38. On NDC's next possession, Nagbe scored a lay-up to tie the game at 40, and suddenly the Falcons had all the momentum.

Lauren Langenderfer scored to make the score 42-40, giving the Falcons their first lead since leading 5-4. Jessica Garcia then hit a jumper, and a pair of free throws from Langenderfer pushed NDC's lead to six, 46-40.

The Falcons continued their impressive run and eventually took a 54-42 lead via the 25-6 run.

A pair of Golden Eagles free throws cut NDC's lead to 54-44 with 4:32 remaining, and the game was not over just yet.

Nagbe then drew a foul and made both shots at the line, pushing the lead back to 12. Ritz split a pair of free throws, and Nagbe hit two more to give NDC a 59-46 lead with 1:53 remaining.

From there, the Falcons remained poised and put the clamps on the Golden Eagles offense, winning by a final score of 65-55. 

With the win, the Falcons will advance to the MEC Semifinals against second-seeded Shepherd while also improving to 19-11 on the season. 

Langenderfer led NDC with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Nagbe had 14 and seven, respectively. Miller also scored 13 points for the Falcons on an efficient 5-8 shooting.

The Falcons will now prepare for their MEC Semifinals matchup on Saturday, March 7 against Shepherd. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:15 p.m.