Box Score WISE, Va. – The Notre Dame Falcons were relentless on the glass against the UVA-Wise Cavaliers on Thursday night, as they came away with a lopsided, 63-48 victory over the Cavs on the road.
The Falcons (17-8, 14-5 MEC) have now won four in a row, 13 of their last 15 overall, and secured a first round bye in the Mountain East Conference tournament with the victory. For the Cavaliers (10-13, 6-13 MEC) the loss was their third in a row, and just their fourth in 12 games at home.
Notre Dame had two players (
Martha Nagbe and
Hope Thorbahn) pull down double-digit rebounds, as they used a 45-32 advantage on the glass to come away with the victory.
Notre Dame took control early, as they began the game on a 7-0 run. During that run, they would get buckets from both Nagbe and
Lauren Langenderfer, while they clamped down defensively, forcing the Cavs to miss their first five shots from the floor.
Later in the first quarter, the Falcon lead would extend to double digits on two separate occasions, as they Falcons led by 10 twice, and closed out the first quarter with a 16-8 lead.
NDC took an 11-point (23-12) lead over the Cavs after Nagbe hit a pair of free throws with 5:38 remaining in the second quarter, before the Cavs finally hit their stride, and went on a 10-0 run over the following three minutes to trim the deficit down to one (23-22) with 2:11 left in the second.
Towards the end of the first half, both sides had trouble knocking down their shots, as the Cavs missed on their final four shots of the half, and NDC made just two of their last nine shots from the floor, and took a 27-22 lead into halftime.
The Falcons shot 36.0-percent (10-for-28) in the opening half, but they came away with nine steals, and outworked the Cavs on the glass, using a 22-16 rebounding advantage which helped them maintain their lead.
Early on in the second half, the Falcons caught fire, hitting 75.0-percent (3-of-4) of their shots during the first minute and 20 seconds of the third quarter, and they eventually stretched their lead back out to double digits, after Langenderfer hit a pair of free throws at the 7:14-mark to give the Falcons a 35-24 advantage.
The Falcons were up 11 (43-32) after
Lexi Hassing hit a layup with 2:35 left in the quarter, but those were their final two points in the third, while the Cavs scored five points on their next two possessions, as they trimmed the deficit down to six (43-37) at the end of three.
The window wasn't open long for the Cavs to get back into the contest, and the Notre Dame defense once again was able to put the clamps on UVA-Wise at the beginning of the fourth quarter, as the Cavs went nearly four minutes without scoring. Notre Dame went on a 6-0 run to start the quarter, taking a 12 point (49-37) lead with 7:04 to play, and they never looked back.
Nagbe delivered her second double-double of the season, with 21 points and a season-high, 14 rebounds to go along with six assists. Langenderfer, the reigning MEC player of the week scored 19 points, marking the fourth straight game that she's scored 19 points or more, and Thorbahn came away with 10 rebounds, marking her third double-digit rebounding performance of the season.
The Falcons are in action again on Saturday, Feb. 20, when they continue their two-game road trip with an MEC matinee against Concord in Athens, W.Va. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
