Box Score CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Notre Dame Falcons fell in a hard fought battle on Thursday evening, in an 80-77 setback on the road to the Charleston Golden Eagles.
The Falcons (13-8, 10-5 MEC) have now lost two in a row, following a 10-game winning streak, and the loss snapped a six game road win streak, while the win for the Golden Eagles (8-13, 6-9 MEC) snapped a brief two-game slide overall, and snapped a four-game losing streak against the Falcons.
Notre Dame scored 28 points off of 24 UC turnovers, and came away with 14 steals, but UC had the advantage on the glass, out-rebounding Notre Dame, 36-19.
Notre Dame had a few empty offensive possessions to start the game, but got on the board after
Kim Cook hit a 3-pointer about a minute into the game, putting NDC in the driver's seat for most of the following four and a half minutes. The opening quarter saw both teams make modest runs, with UC taking a 20-17 lead after one.
It was more of the same in the second quarter. The Golden Eagles took a 22-17 lead early in the second, before the Falcons went on a 9-2 run over the next two and half minutes, a run that was capped by
Hope Thorbahn's layup following a steal from
Celine Mangan to give the Falcons a 26-24 lead with 7:11 left in the opening half.
UC responded by scoring the next five points to regain the lead, and they did not trail again the rest of the half, taking a 37-34 lead into the locker room at the half.
Much like the first two quarters, the third was very tightly contested. Neither side led by any more than four, and the lead changed hands on four separate occasions in the third quarter before UC took a slight, 56-54 edge into the fourth.
Martha Nagbe was responsible for NDC's first six points of the fourth quarter. She hit a layup before being fouled, and hitting a free throw to complete an old fashioned 3-point play to give NDC a 57-56 lead, and she nailed a 3-pointer on NDC's next possession to make it 60-58 Falcons.
The game was tied at 62-62, when UC scored five straight points to take a 67-62 advantage. While the Falcons were able to draw within one a few times, they could not get any closer through the duration of the contest.
Nagbe had four steals on the night, but fouled out with 1:44 to play. The Falcons went the direction of
Lauren Langenderfer quite a bit in the second half, where she scored 19 points, and kept the Falcons alive inside the final two minutes, scoring seven points during that stretch. Despite all of that, Charleston was able to hit four big free throws inside the final 20 seconds which helped to seal the deal.
Four Falcons scored in double figures, and Langenderfer led the way with 19 points to go along with three steals. Nagbe scored 14 points to go along with four steals and Thorbahn scored 14 as well, while Cook added 10 points and four rebounds.
The Falcons are in action again on Saturday, Feb. 6, when they continue their two-game roadie with another MEC tilt against West Virginia State in Institute, W.Va. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
