Final Stats
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Notre Dame College became the first-ever sixth seed to reach the finals of the Mountain East Conference Basketball Tournament when the Falcons knocked off second-seeded Shepherd University, 75-65, in semifinal-round action here Saturday afternoon at the Charleston Civic Center.
The victory was the sixth in a row for Notre Dame which improved to 20-11. It also sets up a meeting for the Falcons with top-seeded West Liberty in the tournament's championship game Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
The Hilltoppers eliminated fourth-seeded Wheeling Jesuit Saturday, 70-68, in overtime. West Liberty and Notre Dame split their regular-season series with both teams winning on their home courts.
To date in the MEC Tournament the Falcons have eliminated 11th-seeded West Virginia Wesleyan, third-seeded Charleston and second-seeded Shepherd.
Against the Rams, a Martha Nagbe 3-pointer at the 18:11 mark of the second half gave her team the lead for good. Nagbe, the MEC's Player of the Year, was the catalyst for the Falcons being able to hold off Shepherd in the second half and record the victory. After picking up her second foul and playing just 10 minutes in the opening half, Nagbe scored 14 of her team-high 16 points in the final 20 minutes, grabbed five of her team-high eight rebounds in the second half, handed out all three of her assists during that span and recorded two of her team-high three blocks.
“I was really upset with myself for being silly and picking up two fouls in the first half,” said Nagbe. “My mentality in the second half was to come out and help our team prosper and score. I was determined to try any type of way to do that whether it was me scoring, me passing the ball or me playing defense. I just wanted us to get the lead and keep it.”
That's exactly what the Falcons were able to do. Notre Dame erased Shepherd's 30-28 halftime lead and by the 12:13 mark of the final half had built a 14-point lead.
“It seemed like today's game would never end once we went up,” said Notre Dame coach Katie Hine with a laugh. “We battled back and forth the entire first half. Then we came out, got a lead in the second half by double digits and I look up at the clock and there's still nine minutes. You realize you have to sustain this lead for nine minutes and that's not easy against Shepherd. They cut into it. They got it to three. Shepherd is one of those teams which will not go away.
“This was the first time we've beaten them all season and if we had to beat them once I'm glad it was this game.”
In addition to Nagbe's 16 points the Falcons, who had 10 players play 10 minutes or more in the game and all score, got 13 points apiece from Lauren Langenderfer and Jessica Garcia and 12 from Kim Cook.
After falling behind 52-38, Shepherd came alive, rallied and trimmed the margin down to 62-59 with 4:40 to play thanks in large part to the efforts of Gabby Flinchum, Briana Vaden, Rachel Johnson and Morgan Arden.
Flinchum finished with a game-high 24 points, 14 of which came in the game's last 16 minutes. She also pulled down eight rebounds and blocked three shots. Vaden chipped in 14 points, Johnson added nine and Arden and Liz Myers both finished with eight.
“I thought this was a great game and that both teams played their hearts out,” said first-year Shepherd coach Jenna Eckleberry. “I know ours did. That wasn't a question at all.
“We got down there early in the second half and had to keep trying to battle our way back. Against Notre Dame that's not easy. I give them all the credit in the world. They were the one team I didn't want to face down here because if they get a lead on you, they just really make it tough to come back on them. They play great team basketball and make really good decisions. We got two out of three against them this year, but today just wasn't our day.”
After Shepherd got within three both teams struggled to score. The Falcons, however, re-grouped and outscored the Rams 13-6 in the game's final 2:45. Nine of Notre Dame's final 13 points came at the foul line where the Falcons finished 27-of-36 as a team.
Notre Dame was also very efficient from the field in the second half connecting on 13-of-22 shot attempts (59.1 percent). By comparison Shepherd took 12 more shots than Notre Dame in the second half and made one less basket. The Rams were just 12-of-34 from the field in the second half (35.3 percent) and for the game were just 15-of-21 at the foul line.