Box Score
URBANA, Ohio – The Notre Dame Falcons shot the lights out on Thursday evening in Urbana, as they scored another road victory in conference play, in an 81-67 victory over the Blue Knights.
For the Falcons (5-11, 4-7 MEC), the victory was their second in their last three games on the road, while for the Blue Knights (4-10, 2-9 MEC), the loss was their third in a row, and their seventh in eight games at home.
NDC shot extremely well throughout the night, knocking down 52.7-percent (29-for-55) of their shots from the floor, including a 42.3-percent clip (11-for-26) from beyond the arc.
The Falcons played very well in the first quarter, where they shot exceptionally well, hitting on 55.6-percent (10-for-18) of their shots, used a 10-8 rebounding edge and a few modest runs to stage an early lead. While Urbana made the first bucket of the game, Notre Dame responded to that with seven straight points, getting baskets from
Kim Cook and
Terrina Robinson to take the lead.
Urbana came back to take a 10-9 advantage at the 4:26-mark, but the Falcons responded with a 6-0 run, highlighted by a 3-pointer from
Kyleigh Ramlow to go up, 15-10. Urbana narrowed the deficit to one (15-14) with just over two minutes to play in the first quarter, before the Falcons closed out the opening stanza with a 9-2 run, which included a 3-pointer from Cook and a pair of buckets from
Seina Adachi to give the Falcons a 24-16 advantage.
In the early stages of the second quarter, the NDC lead grew to double digits. After Adachi hit a 3-pointer just inside of a minute and a half into the second stanza, she came away with a steal and a layup to put the Falcons ahead, 31-19 at the 8:00-mark.
The sharp shooting continued through the rest of the half for Notre Dame, as they shot 53.3-percent (16-for-30) in the opening half, including a 40.0-percent clip (6-for-15) from 3-point land. They used great defense to setup great looks on the offensive end, scoring 15 points off 11 Urbana turnovers, and they took a commanding, 43-27 lead at the end of the half.
Notre Dame continued to shoot well in the second half, and they never allowed the Blue Knights an opportunity to get back into the contest. The Falcons led by double digits through the remainder of the contest, and led by as many as 17 (61-44) with 19 seconds left in the third quarter.
A balanced scoring attack paved the way for the Falcons, as they had four score in double figures. Adachi and Cook led the way with 17 points apiece, while
Kelsey Miller added 15 and
Jessie Stout added 10. Adachi added four steals to lead the Falcons, while
Marisa Finazzo added three to go along with a team high, seven assists. Miller was NDC's leading rebounder with seven, including four on the offensive end.
The Falcons will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 21, when they return home to Murphy Gymnasium to square off against West Liberty. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
