BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Wesleyan (2-6, 1-5) women’s basketball team dropped a home game to Notre Dame (Ohio) (6-3, 5-1) by a score of 58-51 at Rockefeller Center on Saturday afternoon.
WVWC Leaders
Symphonie Bryant-Brown scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Courtney Wilfong and Imani Jackson both netted 10 points. Cierra Tolbert collected 14 rebounds and contributed eight points.
Notre Dame (Ohio) Leaders
Tamia Ridley powered her way to 14 points and 12 boards. Shooting guard Marina Adachi scored 13 points, while Alana Ellis chipped in 11 points.
Inside the First Half
The first two minutes of play saw no scoring from either side. Bryant-Brown hit a three-point shot to give WVWC a 3-2 lead with less than seven minutes to go in the first frame. The Falcons sparked a 10-0 run to build a nine point lead. A layup from Tolbert concluded a five-point WVWC scoring run to put the Lady ‘Cats within five points. The Falcons ended the first quarter with a 9-2 run and held a 21-9 lead after one. The Lady Bobcats outscored the Falcons 13-9 in the second quarter. Jackson and Wilfong made two free throws each as part of a 5-0 scoring run late in the first half. Wesleyan went into the locker room trailing 30-22.
Inside the Second Half
The visitors scored seven consecutive points to take a 37-24 lead with 3:56 remaining in the third quarter. The Falcons collected their largest lead of the game at the 48-31 mark late in the third period. WVWC scored the first four points of the final quarter after two layups via Tolbert. Two made free throws from Wilfong trimmed the NDC lead to single-digits at the 1:39 mark. Jabria Bruce made a jump shot and Jackson drilled two free throws following an NDC technical foul that cut the Falcon’s lead to five points with 23 seconds remaining. Notre Dame (Ohio) sank two free throws in the waning seconds of regulation to take a 58-51 victory.
Up Next
West Virginia Wesleyan will return to the court on Wednesday (Jan. 5) when the season resumes with a home game versus Charleston at 5:30 p.m.