SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Before entering the 2017-18 season, the Notre Dame College women's basketball team (5-2) had made 14 three-point shots in a game just once. This season, they have done it three times in three consecutive games, most recently in an 83-81 win against Ursuline (3-3).
 
NDC made 15 threes, second most in school history, to help push them past a strong Ursuline squad who nearly mounted a comeback in the final quarter of the game.
 
The Falcons carried a 15-point lead after the first three quarter, but saw that lead slowly chip away in the last 10 minutes. In the final two and a half minutes the Arrows cut their deficit from nine points to just one.
 
With 11 seconds to play, Ursuline fouled Maggie King who made one of her two free throw attempts to put the lead back to two. With time running down on the clock, Camryn Hill missed a layup, but Laney Lewis got the offensive rebound and put up a shot before the time expired. Fortunately for the Falcons, Lewis missed the shot.
 
Lewis is coming off of back-to-back Great Midwest Conference Player of the Year awards and scored 21 points while tallying 26 rebounds. She also assisted on eight field goals to lead her team's comeback attempt.
 
"She's a great player," head coach Lauren Macer said of Lewis. "She can run, she can handle the ball and she's long. We were trying to throw different things at her and adjust to what she was doing, but like I said, she's a good player and she makes good decisions."
 
The Arrows were trying to make adjustments of their own to stop NDC's Seina Adachi, but to no avail. Adachi finished with a game-high 31 points as she made seven of her eight three-point shots.
 
Over her last two games, Adachi has now made 13 shots from distance. Coming into the night she ranked 14th in the NCAA Division II with 16 threes.
 
"I've been practicing my threes a lot," Adachi said. "I've had more confidence in it recently so I've been shooting it and the shots have been going in. In the last two games, coach has been telling me to shoot it."
 
"Seina and I have a good relationship where I can tell her to keep going and keep shooting, but she knows if it's not hitting that I'll tell her to get to the basket or make better decisions," Macer said. "Her shooting is all about her comfort level and she's been comfortable from outside these last couple games."
 
The sophomore guard from Attica, Ohio also shot well on her free throws (8-11), but felt the pressure near the end of the game. With 23 seconds left NDC was leading by two points and Adachi was sent to the line. She made her first shot, but missed her second to allow Ursuline to make it a one-point game on the next possession.
 
"I was personally panicking at the end when I had my foul shots," Adachi said. "But I had confidence in the team as a whole to hold them off. We played good defensively throughout the game, but during the fourth quarter we got a little sloppy. I felt like our defense was a big part of tonight's win and felt good about keeping our lead."
 
Helping out defensively were King and Kim Cook who led the team with four steals and 11 rebounds, respectively.
 
At 5-foot-10, Cook was still able to record double-digit rebound despite being surrounded by two players over six-feet tall.
 
"Kim's a tough player," Macer said. She battles through and works hard no matter what situation she's in. She has the ability to put herself in the right spots to succeed throughout the game. I'm glad to have her on my team."
 
Marisa Finazzo led NDC with three assists while Kyleigh Ramlow was second on the team in scoring with 14 points.
 
Notre Dame returns to conference play on Wednesday, November 29. The Falcons host Wheeling Jesuit with tip scheduled for 5:30 p.m.