Box Score URBANA, Ohio -- The Notre Dame Falcons fell to the Urbana Blue Knights, 84-69 on Saturday afternoon in their regular season finale.
The loss for the Falcons (19-9, 16-6 MEC) snapped a six-game winning streak, but did not affect their standing in the Mountain East Conference. The victory for the Blue Knights (12-14, 11-11 MEC) was their fifth in their last seven games, and they are now locked into the #6 seed in the MEC tournament.
Notre Dame played 13 student-athletes in the contest, and had a pair in double figures, with
Martha Nagbe and
Kelsey Miller each scoring 11 points. Nagbe delivered her third double-double of the season, as she hauled in a team high, 13 rebounds.
The lead changed hands quite a few times in the opening quarter, and over the first five minutes, neither side was able to take a lead larger than four. About six minutes into the first quarter, the game was tied at 15-15, before the Blue Knights went on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes, and found themselves ahead, 25-15 with 1:53 left.
Notre Dame was able to rally, and cut the deficit in half after they got five straight points from
Celine Mangan to end the quarter only down, 25-20.
The Falcons continued to fight their way back into the contest, and eventually tied the game at 35-35 with 3:54 left in the half after a jumper from Nagbe off an assist from
Alyssa Kraus. Moments later Kraus hit a free throw to complete an old fashioned 3-poiint play to tie the game at 38-38 with 3:08 left, before the Blue Knights closed out the half on a 10-2 run to take a 48-40 lead at halftime.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, things didn't get much better in the third quarter. The Blue Knights never led by any less than seven, and they led by double digits for most of the quarter, before taking a 68-54 advantage over the Falcons through three quarters of action.
The fourth quarter offered more of the same, as the Blue Knights led by as many as 22 on multiple occasions, and held a double-digit lead the rest of the contest for the victory.
Despite the loss, the Falcons finished the regular season with 19 victories, the most in the regular season for the Falcons since the 2010-11 season.
The Falcons have secured the #3 seed, and received a First Round Bye in the Mountain East Conference tournament. They will be in action again on Thursday, March 3, in the Quarterfinal Round of the tournament at the Charleston Civic Center in Charleston, W.Va. They will play the winner of the Urbana/West Virginia Wesleyan matchup, which takes place in Urbana, Ohio, on Tuesday, March 1.
