SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – For the second time this season the Notre Dame College women's basketball team found itself down at halftime against Concord. And for the second time this season the Falcons came back to win.
 
In the Wednesday evening victory, the two teams fought it out for four quarters and clutch free throws from Jada Marone sent the squads into overtime. Notre Dame won the extra five minutes 13-7 with the final five points for NDC scored by Marone from the charity stripe.
 
The Falcons won 82-76, and with everyone in Murphy Gymnasium anxious about the outcome, the Notre Dame players and coaches were calm. Head coach Lauren Macer said she is confident in her team shooting free throws and knows how important that facet of the game can be. Marone echoed many of her coach's sentiments.
 
"I was confident," Marone said about her shooting at the line late in the game and in overtime. "I knew we needed the points so I was just focused on that. We practice our free throws and shoot almost 80 percent as a team so it's not something we think about too much in a game."
 
Concord got off to a solid start, winning the first quarter 24-13, but NDC recovered in the second and third quarters, winning them 17-11 and 20-14, respectively, to take a one-point lead heading into the final 10 minutes. The Mountain Lions kept things close as the teams traded leads seven times in the fourth quarter before Marone tied things up with a pair of free throws in the final four seconds.
 
"We knew it was going to be a battle from the beginning," Macer said "This is a team we've played before so we felt comfortable even when we were down. Concord's a good team and our players knew that it was going to be competitive throughout all 40 minutes, and tonight we even needed some extra time."
 
The competition was intense as three of NDC's starters each ended the game with four fouls allowing for the reserves to shine while their minutes were managed. With 32 points off the bench, multiple players gave highlight performances. Julie Kemp came in to play against Concord's six-foot-four forward Riley Fitzwater and was able to gather seven rebounds for Notre Dame, including three on the offensive end.
 
Marisa Finazzo and Theresa Parr each scored in double digits while Finazzo led the team with five assists. Kyleigh Ramlow got hot and made two three-pointers as well as another mid-range jumper to score eight.
 
"Our bench was great tonight overall as Kyleigh and Theresa were able to come in and hit shots for us," Macer said. "It was great to see Marisa have a well-rounded game and get back to form a bit; she's finding her flow. We get solid performances top to bottom every night and that really pushes us through games like this.  
 
"Julie has some good experience and you could see that last year as her minutes went up throughout the season. She's able to use her skillset and length, on defense especially, to create problems for other teams."
 
Jessie Stout also had a standout game down low as she was able to record her fourth double-double of the year with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Marone and Seina Adachi led the team in scoring with 17 and 16, respectively.
 
All three starting guards had terrific defensive games as Adachi tallied four steals and Marone and Katie Karalic combined for seven blocks.
 
Notre Dame, now 17-2 (11-2 MEC), will play at Glenville State on Saturday, February 1, in a contest to determine who will be in sole possession of first place in the MEC standings.