SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Notre Dame College women's basketball team (7-8, 6-4 MEC) hosted Wheeling University (3-10, 3-6 MEC) on Wednesday evening in the second meeting between the two teams this year. In their first meeting back on Nov. 20, NDC grabbed the victory in Wheeling, 79-70. Today however was a different story, as Wheeling came out on top 72-66.
In the first quarter, Notre Dame played well, with
Amil Ali-Shakir knocking down a pair of three-point field goals, to give the Falcons a 14-9 advantage after the first ten minutes of play.
In the second quarter, Notre Dame extended their lead after an
Alana Ellis layup to go up 25-15, their largest lead of the game with 4:35 remaining in the half. A gritty Wheeling team would respond with a 12-1 run to take a 27-26 lead with 1:30 left in the quarter. Notre Dame would hold a 31-30 lead at the break after WU's Ally Ziegler netted a layup at the buzzer to make it a one-point game.
In the third quarter, the Falcons came out flat and were outscored by the Cardinals 19-7. Wheeling claimed a 49-38 lead heading into the final quarter of play.
In the fourth quarter, the Cardinals would extend their lead to as many as 14 (54-40) with 9:03 remaining in the contest. NDC would stage several attempts at a comeback during the remainder of the period by cutting the WU lead to just six, but the Cardinals would prevail 72-66.
In total, NDC shot 22-65 (33.8%) from the field, 7-27 from three-point range (25.9%) and 15-23 (65.2%) from the charity stripe. Leading the way on offense for Notre Dame was
Lilee Carlson with 17 points, followed by Ellis with 15, Ali-Shakir with 13 and
Jen Oduho with 11.
Tamia Ridley grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and dished out a team-high three assists.
In comparing the two sides, the rebounds were equal at 37 apiece, while NDC forced WU into three more turnovers (14-17). The difference in the contest was Wheeling's efficient shooting as they shot 25-55 (45.5%) from the field and 19-22 (86.4%) from three.
Notre Dame College will bounce back on Saturday Jan. 22 at 2:00 p.m. when they travel down to Alderson Broaddus University to face the Battlers.
