South Euclid, OH – The Golden Eagles traveled to Northern Ohio yesterday to face the Notre Dame Falcons for an MEC Women's Basketball matchup. In the previous meeting, Charleston defeated Notre Dame soundly with an 82-46 victory at home. The Falcons would give the Golden Eagles a much harder test in this one. 
 
The Basics
Location: Murphy Gymnasium
Score: UC 59, NDC 55
Records: UC (20-5, 15-4 MEC), NDC (6-20, 5-14 MEC) 
 
How it Happened
In a low-scoring game, the Golden Eagle would hold the lead for the majority of the first quarter. Amil Ali-Shakir would start the game with a very close-range layup for the early lead, but the Golden Eagles would spark a quick 7-0 run to take a five-point lead with 7:11 remaining in the quarter. Charleston would find little momentum on the offensive end, but they would hold Notre Dame to just nine points on offense in the opening quarter. Despite the amount of sharpshooters that Charleston has, Abby Lee's three-pointer in the first quarter would be the first and last shot from beyond the arc that the Golden Eagles converted the entire game, shooting 1-18 from three-point territory. Notre Dame also would find just one triple on the night that came from Karli Anker. Marina Adachi's free throw would tie the game at 24-24 heading into the locker room. 
 
The lead would change six times in the third quarter between the two teams. Charleston would gain the momentum back as they shot 50% from inside the arc (7-14), but still unable to find three-pointers on two attempts in the quarter. The team would also pick up five points from the line on their 83% shooting percentage from the stripe. Clarrissa Francis' layup just before the horn would give the Golden Eagles a six-point lead heading into the final period, but Notre Dame played like their life depended on it. Charleston held a comfortable lead over the Falcons for majority of the quarter, but Notre Dame fought back to get within a score of the Golden Eagles. With four seconds left, Noel Weathers would knock home two free throws for the Falcons to cut the lead to just two points. Immediately after, Dakota Reeves would be fouled and would take a trip to the line on the other end to try and put the game away. Reeves had struggled shooting the ball from the field on the night, but she was almost automatic from the free throw line. She would convert on both of her free throws to ice the game with a 4-point lead, giving Charleston the 59-55 nail-biting win over Notre Dame.
 
Up Next
The Golden Eagles will be back in the Wehrle Innovation Center this weekend as they take on the Alderson Broaddus Battlers on February 18^th at 5:30 pm.