WHEELING, W.Va. – Playing the first of three straight road games, the Notre Dame College women's basketball team (4-13, 2-9 MEC) came out of the gates firing from downtown, and despite shooting 43% from beyond the arc in the first half, fell to Wheeling University (13-4, 8-2 MEC) 71-53 on Wednesday evening. Redshirt junior
Kennadi Harris tallied a team-high 15 points on four made three-pointers.
As aforementioned, the Falcons started the contest red hot from three-point land, including controlling a 12-11 edge at the 3:24 mark following four three-pointers by
Karli Anker,
Kennadi Harris and
Cencere McDaniel. The Falcons moved ahead 16-13 as
Nadia Jackson and
Noel Weathers exchanged baskets with 1:59 left in the opening period. WU closed out the first quarter on an 8-0 run to lead 21-16.
Quickly into the second quarter, Notre Dame knotted the contest at 21-21 as
Rachel Richardson splashed a three, followed by a Harris jumper at the 9:00 mark. The Falcons and Cardinals went back-and-forth into the halftime break, as NDC claimed the quarter 14-13, with WU leading 34-30 at the half.
The Cardinals raced out of the break with 12-3 run to lead 46-33 at the midway point, before holding a 55-41 advantage after the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Notre Dame continued to claw back, trimming the Wheeling lead to 59-49 with 5:23 left to play as Weathers scored a layup. However, Wheeling took the period 16-12, as NDC fell 71-53.
Harris and Weathers paced Notre Dame College on the evening with 15 and 14 points, respectively. In addition, Anker and Richardson chipped in seven points apiece.
On the glass,
Izabella Zirzow controlled a season-high seven rebounds, while Weathers also brought down a team-high seven boards. Moreover, Harris tied a season-high with five rebounds.
Lilee Carlson orchestrated NDC on both sides of the ball, as the junior dished out a game-high four assists, and tied a career-high with three blocks.
As a team, Notre Dame shot 19-51 from the floor (37.3%), 8-25 (32.0%) from three and 7-11 (63.6%) from the free throw line. The Falcons added 30 rebounds, nine assists, five steals and five blocks.
The Notre Dame College women's basketball team will be back in action on Saturday Jan. 27 at 2 p.m. when the Falcons travel to Salem University.
