INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The Notre Dame College women's basketball team (8-16, 5-12 MEC) traveled to West Virginia State University (15-9, 10-6 MEC) on Saturday afternoon, as a tight first quarter gave way to the Yellow Jackets over the Falcons by a final score of 89-67.
 
The first quarter was back and forth featuring four lead changes and three ties. Noel Weathers tallied a quick five points to gift NDC a 7-4 edge with 5:49 to play in the first. An 8-2 run by WVSU moved the Yellow Jackets in front 12-9. Next, Lilee Carlson knotted the score at 14-14 with a three-pointer with 2:28 remaining. WV State took an 18-16 advantage into the second quarter.
 
The back and forth intensity continued as Cencere McDaniel tied the game at 21-21 with a pair of free throws at the 7:13 mark. Next, West Virginia State went on a 10-0 run to lead 31-21 at the midway point in the period. The Yellow Jackets took a 40-29 advantage into the break.
 
In the third quarter, WV State continued to shoot the ball well, stretching the lead to 70-43 with 10 minutes to play.
 
Notre Dame continued to battle for all four quarters, as NDC claimed the fourth, 24-19 on 8-15 shooting (53.3%) from the field, despite falling 89-67.
 
Weathers paced the Notre Dame College offense with 13 points, alongside Kennadi Harris with 11, Carlson with nine, and McDaniel and Rachel Richardson with eight apiece. Karli Anker (3) and Mallory Hullinger (2) facilitated the offense with multiple assists.
 
On the glass, Weathers corralled a team-high eight rebounds, as Carlson and Izabella Zirzow notched six.
 
Defensively, Carlson tied a career-high with three blocks in the game. In addition, Weathers swatted a pair of shots to total 54 blocks on the season, the second-most in NDC single season history, including the most since the 1995-96 campaign. The sophomore is now just two blocks shy of tying Joni DePiore's record which has stood for untouched for 28 years.
 
As a team, Notre Dame shot 21-56 (37.5%) from the floor, 4-15 (26.7%) from three and 21-26 (80.8%) from the free throw line. The Falcons added 42 rebounds, 10 assists, one steal and five blocks.
 
The Notre Dame College women's basketball team will be back in action on Wednesday Feb.21 at 5:30 p.m. as Frostburg State University enters Murphy Gymnasium.