SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – A big third-quarter push helped the Notre Dame College women's basketball outlast West Virginia Wesleyan and come away with a 68-64 win.
After losing the first quarter by just one point, the Falcons kicked things into gear to outscore the Bobcats 41-24 in the middle two quarters.
NDC scored 10 of the final 13 points of the second quarter to take a 30-24 lead into halftime. Then a defensive adjust kept their streak going as the Falcons opened the second half with a 13-2 run.
"Our press wasn't that effective in the beginning so we made a little alteration there," said sophomore point guard
Marisa Finazzo. "Seina [Adachi] and I were able to pressure their guards and force them to make long passes, and our backside did a great job deflecting those."
That pressure caused seven turnovers, six of which results of NDC stealing the ball, and of those six, five led to a basket being scored. In the third quarter alone, the Falcons were able to score 11 points off steals.
"They feed off each other and started to trust that their teammates would be where they were supposed to be," said head coach
Lauren Macer on her team's strong defensive play.
With a 16-point lead heading into the final 10 minutes, Notre Dame used their momentum to build their lead up to 23 points with less than seven minutes to go. Then it was Wesleyan's turn to take over. The Bobcats finished out the game on a 25-6 run to close the gap to four points, but ultimately come up short.
"I just think we got comfortable," Macer said. " Wesleyan's not a bad team and they started hitting shots and attacking."
Despite the close ending, the win for the Falcons had multiple strong performances that highlighted the game.
Seina Adachi led the team with 17 points and stole the ball five times while Finazzo was second on the team with 15 points.
Finazzo led the team with six assists to reach a total of 101 for the season and become just the second player in NDC's Division II history to hit the century mark. The Falcons as a whole, assisted on 14 of their 23 makes while taking advantage of what the Bobcats were giving them.
"They played us predominately zone and we're a team full of shooters so once we started swinging the ball and our guards and forwards kept moving it allowed us to get open shots," Finazzo said. "I always have to credit my teammates for my assists because they were making them."
Kim Cook and
Kyleigh Ramlow reach double-digit scoring as well with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Ramlow led the team in with a career-high nine rebounds while
Abi Oriti gathered seven.
Ramlow earned her first start of the season with
Maggie King out with an injury. The sophomore guard is usually a spark for the Falcons off the bench.
"I knew I had to do my job today," Ramlow said. "Maggie's a big part of our team and brings a lot of energy so I knew I had to provide some of that too. I like to see the game before I go in so it was a little bit different, but I was ready for it."
The Toledo, Ohio native knew her strength was an advantage, which provided some confidence to get boards.
"Even though Kyleigh is undersized, she uses her skill set to her advantage and plays with heart," Macer said. "She's able to draw the defense out because of her ability to shoot and then she crashes hard. That's definitely something we need from her and whoever else we bring off the bench."
Ramlow's 11 points today and 18 points Thursday marks her first time scoring in double digits in back-to-back games since November when she scored over 10 points in three straight games. 18 of her 29 points in the past two games came from three-pointers.
"I've been getting in the gym a lot to work on my shot," Ramlow said. "I've been working on my form, bending my knees, using my legs, flicking my wrists."
The Falcons have just four games left to secure the No. 2 seed in the Mountain East Conference Tournament. NDC currently has a two-game lead on the third place West Liberty Hilltoppers.
Notre Dame travels to Concord on Thursday, February 15 for a 5:30 p.m. tip.
