SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – After a two-game road skid, the Notre Dame College women's basketball team came out with something to prove against West Virginia State.
 
The Falcons (13-7, 9-4 MEC) came into the night tied for second place with WVSU (7-12, 7-6 MEC) just one game back. The statement victory combined with a loss from Urbana put NDC back in sole possession of second in the standings.
 
In the first half, it was defensive pressure that defined the game as the Yellow Jackets turned the ball over 15 times, 14 of which were caused by steals from Notre Dame. The Falcons stole the ball five times in the first five minutes to gain a 10-4 lead and not look back.
 
"The team played aggressive today and it led to a lot of opportunities," said head coach Lauren Macer.
 
With the strong defensive presence, NDC was able to take 42 shots in the first two quarters compared to West Virginia State's 29. At halftime, it was 43-29 in favor of the home team.
 
In the second half, things evened out as each team took 34 shots and both teams were shooting them well. Notre Dame made 17 while WVSU made 16 and the Falcons held on to win 87-79.
 
Leading the team on the offensive and defensive end was Marisa Finazzo who scored 18 points and recorded five steals in just 16 minutes of playing time. The sophomore point guard got into foul trouble early and sat much of the first half, but was still able to score seven points in the first 138 seconds.
 
"I saw a lot of open lanes and tried pushing the ball as much as I could," Finazzo said. "My teammates were running the court and spacing out the floor so it made things easy for me to attack and drive."
 
On the defensive end, it was also a team effort for the Falcons as five players stole the ball at least twice throughout the competition.
 
"We always try to be a good pressing team," Finazzo said. Today that worked really well. We did a good job keeping them to the sideline and the backside did their job of defending the middle, which didn't give [WVSU] any passing lanes to break our press."
 
It wasn't just a team effort on defense, but offensively 34 points came from the bench. This marks the third time this season non-starters contributed over 30 points.
 
"There's a lot of pride that goes into it because we all work really hard in practice," said Abi Oriti, who tied her season-high with eight points off the bench. "No one take anything personally because we know we have good starters and a solid bench. When we go in, we know what we need to do."
 
Oriti said there's an advantage to coming in a little later in the game.
 
"I started a couple games when we were in Hawaii and it was kind of different because when I don't start, I'm able to see who I'm going to be defending and see what they're doing. Even though we scout, it's nice to have that perspective of how they play."
 
The sophomore forward from Seven Hills, Ohio normally likes to take advantage with her outside shooting skills, but against the Yellow Jackets she kept things inside.
 
"With the zone they were running, I was able to make a home in the middle," Oriti said. "We're able to pass out for open looks and if the defender closed out we passed back in with an open lane."
 
Passing was a key part of the Falcons' win as they assisted on 22 of their 33 baskets. The 22 assists were the second-most for NDC this season with the season-high 25 coming earlier in the year against West Virginia State.
 
"Our team made the extra pass and they were ready to shoot," Macer said. "They build off each other, which makes it exciting."
 
Seina Adachi led the team with seven assists while Kim Cook had four. Cook also brought in 11 rebounds to lead the team with Maggie King bringing in seven of her own. Adachi, King and Kyleigh Ramlow all joined Finazzo in double-digit scoring with 14, 10 and 12 points, respectively.
 
Notre Dame will play at Charleston on Saturday, January 27 at 2 p.m.