SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – A second-quarter dominance lifted the Notre Dame College women's basketball team to a strong lead and carried the Falcons to a 70-61 victory against Wheeling Jesuit on Wednesday night.
 
It was a back-and-forth battle in the opening quarter as NDC and WJU traded leads five times in the first eight minutes. But the Falcons took things over in the second quarter after winning the first 20-16. Notre Dame would stay consistent with its 20-point output in the second quarter, but would cut Wheeling Jesuit's scoring in have to take a 40-24 lead into halftime.
 
Junior guard Seina Adachi got things rolling for the Falcons, scoring eight points in the first five minutes of the second quarter to give the team a double-digit lead. That momentum would carry through to the break as NDC earned a 16-point lead heading to the locker room.
 
"After the two loses [last week at Shepherd and Fairmont State], in games that we felt we should have won, we came together as a team and focused in practice to do what we needed to do tonight," Adachi said. "Personally, those two losses upset me. It was like a restart in my mind to go out and get a good team win."
 
Notre Dame kept doing what they needed to do in the third quarter to increase the lead to 54-35 before things settled down in the fourth. The Cardinals pressed in throughout the final 10 minutes to work their way back into the game and get within seven, but NDC closed the game out to win by nine.
 
Guard play highlighted the win as Adachi (24), Ajia McIntyre (14) and Kyleigh Ramlow (10) combined for 48 of the team's 70 points. Along with with Adachi's 24 points she added seven rebounds and led both teams in steals (five) and assists (six). Fellow guard Katie Karalic was second in the game with five assists.
 
Karalic and Adachi currently lead the team in assists with 65 and 44, respectively, making up for the absence of Marisa Finazzo who is sidelined with an injury. Finazzo was top 10 in the Mountain East Conference last season with 121 assists.
 
"It's tough without Marisa, but we can't hang our heads," Adachi said. "We all have to step up and make up some of that ground. I have been trying to focus on finding open people and Katie has been passing the ball well. It's a team effort to replace a point guard like Marisa."
 
Adachi, Karalic and McIntyre have been the trio to bring the ball up the court lately for the Falcons and head coach Lauren Macer said it's been good to see her team find ways to fill in for missing pieces.
 
"I think with our lineup right now, it's allowing a lot of people to step up and get comfortable and consistent in new roles," Macer said. "I also think it's providing a lot of opportunities for our team and it's given players the chance to fill the gap in those areas that we need them to."
 
McIntyre has been a good example of a player stepping up to fill a role as she has seen double-digit minutes in six of the last seven games and has scored a career-high 14 points in two of the last three contests. The junior from Rochester, N.Y. was averaging less than seven minutes and two points prior those last seven games.
 
"Aija has been really aggressive for us and has been a great defensive presence as well," Macer said. "It's great to see her contribute the way she has and I hope to see that continue."
 
Notre Dame will play Urbana at home on Saturday, January 26, at 2 p.m.