Box Score INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The Notre Dame Falcons shot extremely well, and used an incredible advantage on the glass to score a crucial road victory on Saturday afternoon, with an 85-78 victory over West Virginia State.
The victory for the Falcons (14-8, 11-5 MEC) snapped a brief, two-game skid, and they've now won 11 of their last 13 games overall, while loss for the Yellow Jackets (11-11, 8-8) ended their two-game winning streak.
Notre Dame used an incredible, 38-20 rebounding advantage throughout the contest to maintain the lead, which they held for 39 minutes of the contest, and they shot incredibly well, hitting 54.8-percent (34-for-62) of their shots from the floor.
WV State held a slight edge during the first minute of the game, but after a
Kim Cook layup at the 9:07-mark, the Falcons took a 4-3 lead, and they never trailed again. In the first quarter, the Falcons shot 65-percent (13-for-20) and out-rebounded the Yellow Jackets, 11-2.
The game was tight over the first five minutes. Notre Dame held an 18-16 advantage, before they went on a 7-0 run over the next minute of action. NDC converted on all three of their offensive possessions during that stretch, getting four points from
Martha Nagbe, and a 3-poitner from
Celine Mangan.
WV State was able to close the gap to five, before NDC scored a pair of buckets in the final minute of the quarter from
Lauren Langenderfer, who had 10 points in the first alone, and
Terrina Robinson, which gave the Falcons a 31-22 lead after one.
The second quarter saw the Falcons continue to shoot the lights out, and stay aggressive on the glass, as they added to their advantage, taking a double-digit (55-39) lead into the half.
Nagbe was responsible six of NDC's first eight points of the quarter, as the lead quickly grew to 15 (39-24) just over two minutes into the quarter. The lead continued to grow, as the Falcons led by as many as 21 (55-34) in the second quarter, after a layup from Robinson with 1:47 to go.
NDC shot 63.9-percent (23-for-36) from the floor in the first half, including a 57.1-percent (4-for-7) clip from 3-point land, while they out-rebounded the Yellow Jackets, 24-5, and outscored them in the paint, 34-16. In addition, they would get 20 first half point from Nagbe.
In the second half, Notre Dame never trailed, and they maintained a double-digit lead for most of the third quarter, until the Yellow Jackets made a bit of a charge in the final two minutes, and they narrowed the deficit down to nine (70-61) heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Notre Dame again held several double-digit advantages, but the Yellow Jackets put a bit of a scare into the Falcons after they took the NDC lead down to five (82-77) after Alexus Hobbs completed an old fashioned 3-point play, but as it turned out, the layup from Hobbs before the free throw would be WVSU's last field goal of the contest, as NDC hung on for the win.
Langenderfer led the Falcons with 25 points to go along with four assists. Nagbe finished with 22 points and a team high, six assists and well as a trio of steals. Cook led the Falcons on the glass with 11 rebounds while adding eight points, and Mangan added nine points with three assists.
The Falcons are in action again on Thursday, Feb. 11, when they play host to Shepherd (WV) at Murphy Gymnasium in another Mountain East Conference tilt. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
