SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio - The Notre Dame College women's basketball team lost in a close 88-84 game at home against No. 11 Glenville State after a back and forth second half. NDC held a one-point, 80-79 lead with two minutes to play before the Pioneers went on a 6-0 run late and closed things out. 

The four-point win is the closest game GSC (22-1, 17-0) has played all season. Notre Dame (16-8, 12-5 MEC) has challenged the Glenville State in both of their games this season, and nearly came away with an upset of the top seed in the conference. 

In the first quarter, the Pioneers got off to an 8-0 start and built their lead to 13-3 before head coach Lauren Macer called a timeout. After the timeout, with six minutes to go in the quarter, the Falcons doubled their opponents output to tie things up 23-23 after the first 10 minutes. NDC then gained a short-lived lead after Seina Adachi hit a three for the first shot of the second quarter. From there, Glenville State took the lead back, but Notre Dame kept it close to go into halftime down 47-45.

Kyleigh Ramlow highlighted the first half with four three-point field goals made on five attempts. Overall, she was five-of-six on her way to 16 first-half points.

"Kyleigh has been working hard so we figured she was due for a good game soon," said Macer. "She plays with a lot of spirit and intensity and feeds off the momentum of her teammates. She came out ready to play today."

After the half, the Falcons were able to dominate in the first part of the third quarter to go up by as many as eight points, but like every other lead created in this game it didn't last long. Glenville State pushed back and took a 69-68 lead before the final quarter. Marisa Finazzo put NDC back on top with a three to start the final 10 minutes of play before the Pioneers made a three of their own to gain the advantage back. In the fourth quarter the lead was changed six times before the last few minutes. 

GSC played it signature game, putting up 81 shots compared to the 64 they allowed. The Pioneers took a total of 52 shots from beyond the arc, but made only 15. The visitors did well rebounding their misses, though, to record 19 offensive boards and 13 second-chance points. 

Macer was saw positives from the night as her team hung on with a top ranked opponent, but ultimately saw things to work on in this late-season performance. 

"We played well tonight, but there are a lot of things we need to do and get better at. They played with heart and had a lot of energy, but we needed to be better at finishing out those possessions that really mattered." 

Adachi led the team in scoring with 19 points while Ramlow and Kim Cook dropped 18 apiece and Finazzo had 14. Cook led the team in rebounds for her eighth double-double of the year while Abi Oriti found nine boards. Finazzo rounded out her offensive performance with six assists. 

Notre Dame will play West Virginia Wesleyan at home on Saturday, February 10. Tip off is set for 2 p.m.