ATHENS, W.Va. – The Notre Dame College and Concord University women's basketball teams battled it out for 40 minutes on Saturday afternoon, but the Falcons pulled ahead at the right time to win in a close 85-82 game.
 
Notre Dame improved to 7-1 (3-1 MEC) as they outscored the Mountain Lions (5-3 (3-1 MEC)) 24-18 in the fourth quarter.
 
The first three quarters were a back-and-forth that ended with Concord coming ahead. After a 15-15 tie in the first quarter, CU won the second and third by a combined three points to take a slight lead heading into the fourth.
 
The Mountain Lions went up by as many as six in the final quarter, but then Notre Dame took things over. NDC went on a 20-11 run in the last seven minutes to leave Athens with a victory.
 
Jada Marone played a big role in the Falcons success at the end of the game as she was responsible for 12 points in the fourth quarter with two assists and eight points scored.
 
NDC was able to keep things within reach in the first half, staying disciplined. The Falcons were down by five toward the end of the second quarter, but with one second left Katie Karalic was fouled and made all three of her field goal attempts to put it back within two.
 
Karalic was six-for-six from the charity stripe in the first half and made three of her four field goals to lead NDC in the first two quarters with 13 points.
 
"The team really stayed together throughout the game," head coach Lauren Macer said on the Falcons' ability to keep things close. "We stuck to the game plan and played our game. The players were constantly talking and encouraging each other."
 
Concord and Notre Dame traded leads multiple times in the third quarter in the exciting battle of the teams. Overall there were 24 lead changes and 15 ties in the contest.
 
But it was NDC that was able to overcome things in the end to stay atop the Mountain East Conference standings.
 
"At the end of the game we dug deep and made solid decisions on offense and played together on defense," Macer said.
 
Seina Adachi led the Falcons with 19 points, adding five rebounds and three assists. Karalic also finished with five boards and three assists while totaling 17 points. Marone (14) Jen Oduho (10) and Jessie Stout (10) each also finished in double digits as all five starters scored at least 10.
 
Oduho led the team with six rebounds while Stout came down with five missed shots. Off the bench, Kyleigh Ramlow provided some energy with three 3s.
 
Notre Dame will head to Davis & Elkins next on Thursday, December 12, for a 5:30 p.m. tip.