WHEELING, W.Va. – Records were meant to be broken, even if it means breaking your own. On Thursday afternoon, Notre Dame College's 80-33 win over West Virginia Wesleyan College, broke the Mountain East Conference Tournament record for largest margin of victory (47 points), which was previously held by NDC's 2016 tournament team. The defense helped break another record, allowing the fewest number of points in an MEC Tournament game.

Notre Dame scored the first 11 points of the contest, making four of their first six shots, along with two free throws. The defense also stepped up, and early pressure led to five first quarter steals for the Falcons. Junior Jada Marone had three steals and senior Julie Kemp stole the ball twice.

"We started pressing and that helped us a lot," said sophomore Marina Adachi, who set a tournament record by shooting 86% from three. "We tried to be aggressive on defense. We did a good job."

NDC led 24-6 after the first quarter as seven different players scored for the Falcons. That is the largest lead at the end of a first quarter for the Falcons since Jan. 30, when Notre Dame led Davis & Elkins by 20 points.

In the second quarter, Notre Dame shot even better than the first. The Falcons went 8-for-12 (67%) from the field and 4-for-6 (67%) from three. At the 7:32-mark, freshman Willow White knocked down her first career three pointer. That was followed by back-to-back threes by Adachi. The Falcons led, 40-11, with 3:24 to go in the first half.

At halftime, Notre Dame led 47-15, shooting 57% from the field and 55% from long range. Their 32-point halftime lead also broke an MEC Tournament record. Adachi had 16 points, making five three pointers. Sophomore Amil Ali-Shakir had eight points, making all four of her free throws.

West Virginia Wesleyan scored 12 points in the third quarter, their highest total for any quarter in the game, but Notre Dame continued to add to their lead. NDC started the second half on a 7-2 run. A layup by junior Tamia Ridley, with 34-seconds left, put NDC ahead by 39 points, 66-27.

"We came out and were focused [in the second half]," head coach Lauren Macer said. "This team is hungry with how the season ended last year, so they know tournament is do or die. They came out focused, each quarter, ready to play together. Defensively, they were able to apply ball pressure and rotate and just play together. We're trying to hone in on that on both sides of the court."

Notre Dame scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter. The Bobcats scored their first points of the quarter at the 3:05-mark. NDC pushed their lead to 50 points, 77-27, after a made jumper by White with 3:24 on the clock.

Adachi scored a career-high 25 points, tying career-highs in field goals made (8) and three pointers made (6). Adachi's six threes are tied for second most in an MEC Tournament game. Marone and Ali-Shakir both had 10 points. Marone also had eight rebounds and five steals. Ridley added eight points and eight rebounds while senior Jen Oduho had nine points and five rebounds.

Notre Dame shot 49.2%, which is the best field goal percentage that they have posted this season. Their 32 defensive rebounds tied their season-high.

Notre Dame moves on and will play the second seed from the South Division, No. 15 Glenville State College, on Saturday. The rematch of last season's MEC Championship game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.