NDC women earn first NCAA berth

WHEELING, W. VA. » There was disappointment in the moment for the Notre Dame College Falcons after their 80-74 loss to Glenville State (W.Va.) College March 8 in the Mountain East Conference women’s tournament title game at WesBanco Arena.

The No. 2 seed Falcons had given the No. 1 seed and two-time defending MEC tourney champs a stern test before fading in the final five minutes.

Glenville improved to 26-5 and secured the automatic bid to the NCAA Division II women’s tournament.

The Falcons, also 265, later in the day learned they made the 64-team field with an at-large bid. They will again face Glenville State, this time on March 13 at Gannon University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Tipoff is 5 p.m.

This is the first NCAA Division II tournament bid for the NDC women’s program.

“This is a tough one. It hurts, for sure. But I’m so proud of this team for how they battled tonight and all they’ve accomplished this season,” NDC coach Lauren Macer said after the title game.

Macer and her team made the three-hour drive from Wheeling to the NDC campus in South Euclid. They gathered again at 10 p.m. on March 8 to watch the live stream of the Division II women’s selection show on ncaa.com.

Junior forward Jen Oduho and sophomore guard Jada Marone each finished with 19 points to pace NDC. Senior guard and All-MEC First Team honoree Seina Adachi netted 14 points. Senior forward Jessie Stout added 10 points.

Glenville senior forward and tournament Most Valuable Player Emily Stoller finished with a team-high 19 points. Her 3-pointer with just over five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter capped a relentless comeback and gave the Pioneers the lead for good at 65-62.

Senior guard Ty Armstrong added 18 points for the victors, who trailed throughout the third quarter before starting the rally that wore down the Falcons.

“It was a great game. Notre Dame played phenomenally well,” Glenville coach Kim Stephens said. “They came out hungry and ready to play. We didn’t panic. We kept doing what we do. Our experience paid off.”

Glenville raced to a 15-9 lead midway through the first quarter. Senior guard Marisa Finazzo (Gilmour) came off the NDC bench to spark an 18-5 run that left the Falcons with a 2720 lead going to the second quarter.

Finazzo scored seven points during the spurt.

NDC led at halftime, 3933, and remained ahead by as many as six points in the third quarter before the Pioneers narrowed the gap to 55-54 going to the fourth quarter.

“From the first quarter to the third quarter, we played great. The game got away from us in the fourth quarter,” Adachi said.

NDC had the advantage in total made field goals, 30-27, Glenville more than offset that by making 10 3-pointers compared to three by the Falcons.

Glenville also beat NDC twice during the regular season.