WISE, Va. – Four points was all that the Notre Dame College women's basketball team allowed in the first quarter at UVa-Wise. The Falcons went up 20-4 after 10 minutes and sailed through to a 64-53 victory, winning their first conference game of the season.
 
NDC shutout the Cavaliers through the first 5:41 of the game on Monday evening; and by time Wise had scored its first field goal, the Falcons had already put a dozen points of their own on the board. It only took one quarter for Notre Dame to run away with things and despite being outscored by three in the second quarter and two in the fourth, the visitors would leave with a double-digit triumph.
 
"We focused on coming out strong," head coach Lauren Macer said. "We stuck to the game plan and played together as a unit."
 
Much of the first half success came off the glass as NDC out-rebounded its host 34-16 in the first two quarters. Jessie Stout and Tamia Ridley dominated the glass in the first half with eight and seven rebounds, respectively.
 
Stout would finish will 11 rebounds and score 12 points, making all five of her field goals and adding two free throws.
 
"The glass is important to us because it's something we can control," Macer said. "As a team we have talked about controlling what we can control and knowing that if we all do our part that we should have a positive result."
 
The Falcons stuck with what was working in the second half, moving the ball inside to get to the line or score in the paint. Notre Dame shot 17 free throws in the final two quarters, making 13, and attempted 22 of its 24 field goals inside the arc.
 
Overall, NDC shot just seven three-pointers, converting on three. It was the first time since Macer took over as head coach that the Falcons took fewer than 13 threes. It was also just the second time in the program's NCAA Division II history that the team shot less than 10 shots from distance in a game. The only other time also happened against UVa-Wise on February 16, 2017. The Falcons won that contest 69-60.
 
"This team is pretty versatile," Macer said. "They made good reads and attacked the basket; it's just something they saw and they were able to take advantage of it while on the court.
 
"It was a good team win, and it showed that we have to keep working to keep getting better in our all-around game."

Seina Adachi led the team with 15 points while Katie Karalic added 13. Ridley finished with eight rebounds and tallied two assists. 
 
Notre Dame will play again on November 28 at Wheeling Jesuit. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.