Box Score ATHENS, W.Va. -- The Notre Dame Falcons scored another impressive road victory on Saturday afternoon, as they used an incredible second quarter performance to run away with a 91-72 victory over Concord.
Notre Dame (18-8, 15-5 MEC) has now won five in a row, and seven of their last eight on the road, while the Mountain Lions (5-21, 3-17 MEC) have now lost six in a row.
A quick start put the Falcons in the driver's seat early on. While they came up empty on their first two possessions, NDC followed by nailing their next three shots, getting buckets from
Lauren Langenderfer,
Kim Cook and
Hope Thorbahn, and found themselves ahead, 9-4, just three minutes into the contest.
Their lead would get a large as nine (17-8) after a layup from
Kelsey Miller with 3:44 to go in the first quarter, but the Mountain Lions responded with a 9-2 run over the next minute of the contest to narrow the deficit to two (19-17).
Concord was able to stay well within striking distance, as both teams shot very well in the opening quarter, which saw NDC shoot 52.3-percent (11-for-21) from the field and Mountain Lions shot 62.5-percent (10-for-16), including a perfect 4-for-4 mark from 3-point land. Despite Concord's ability to catch fire beyond the arc, NDC led by three (27-24) after one quarter of play.
However, the Falcons completely dominated the second quarter, where they outscored Concord, 24-7. Notre Dame's defense was on display early in the second quarter, as Concord missed their first five shots of the quarter, and came up empty on their first six possessions. Meanwhile,
Martha Nagbe hit a 3-pointer, and Thorbahn hit a pair of free throws to stretch the NDC lead to eight (32-24) over the first two and a half minutes of the quarter.
Langenderfer was then responsible for Notre Dame's next six points, as the Falcons took a double-digit lead (38-27) nearly halfway through the second quarter. The Falcons dominated the final five minutes of the half, as they held the Mountain Lions to just four points during that stretch, and took a commanding, 51-31 lead into halftime.
Three Falcons, Nagbe, Thorbahn and Langenderfer scored in double figures in the first half, as Notre Dame shot 55.8-percent (19-for-34) from the floor, 40-percent (4-for-10) from 3-point land, and out-rebounded the Mountain Lions, 22-14.
Notre Dame led by as many as 25 in the third quarter, and not much changed over the second half of the contest, as the Falcons were able to maintain a double-digit lead the rest of the way on their way to victory.
Nagbe led the way with 28 points to go along with four rebounds and five assists, while Thorbahn added 18 points and six boards, and Langenderfer contributed 15 points with a trio of assists.
The Falcons are in action again on Thursday, Feb. 25, when they play their home finale against No. 16 Wheeling Jesuit at Murphy Gymnasium. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
