SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Quality second and fourth quarter efforts fall short for the Notre Dame College women's basketball team (4-10, 3-5 MEC) on Saturday afternoon against Fairmont State University (10-4, 6-2 MEC). FSU claimed round one of the Falcon bowl inside Murphy Gymnasium, 70-56.
 
Redshirt sophomore Alana Ellis got the scoring started with a layup on NDC's first possession. Fairmont State responded with a 10-0 run at the midway point of the period. Despite trailing 16-6, Notre Dame battled back with an 8-2 run to close out the quarter. FSU led 18-14 after the first.
 
The NDC Falcons continued to play well into the second period, trimming the FSU lead down to one. Ellis found senior Marina Adachi for a three-pointer at the 4:32 mark, making the score 27-26. The FSU Falcons maintained a 34-30 advantage into the break after an even 16-16 second quarter.
 
The two sides fought back-and-forth out of the intermission as freshman Noel Weathers scored six-straight NDC points at the 4:33 mark. Weathers cut the FSU lead back to a four-point advantage (43-39). However, Fairmont State closed the third quarter on a 13-3 run, stretching the lead to 56-42.
 
In the fourth quarter, both teams scored 14 points as Fairmont State went on to win, 70-56.
 
The Notre Dame College offense was led by a balanced scoring attack in Ellis' team-high 11 points, alongside Weathers with 10.
 
Adachi added eight points and a game-high four assists.
 
Junior Lizzie Imrie tallied seven points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
 
As a unit, Notre Dame shot 23-53 (43.4%) from the floor, 1-10 (10.0%) from beyond the arc and 9-18 (50.0%) from the free throw line.
 
The Notre Dame College women's basketball team will be back in action on Wednesday Jan. 11 for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off against West Virginia State University inside Murphy Gymnasium.