Raiders ride to victory
Falcons fall to RWC, 72-66
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ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Roberts Wesleyan (NY) Raiders closed to within a game of Notre Dame in the American Mideast Conference (AMC) North Division standings Friday evening. Roberts Wesleyan (16-10, 7-4) defeated NDC, 72-66, handing the Falcons their third loss in their last four games.

Despite the loss, Notre Dame (18-6, 8-3) remains in second place in the division standings, behind Daemen College (NY), which headed into the weekend's action 10-0 in the league and working on a 14-game win streak. NDC lost to Daemen last Saturday (Feb. 9) in their last game. The Falcons have now posted back-to-back losses twice this season.

Junior guard Ashley Carney (Solon, OH) led NDC with 16 points Friday and junior forward Jamie Henry (Garfield Heights, OH) added 11 points and 12 rebounds, but the Blue & Gold suffered another night of subpar shooting. The Falcons shot 35.9 percent (28-for-78) for the contest. Over their last five games, Notre Dame is shooting just 36.2 percent (133-for-367) over its last five games.

To that end , Notre Dame did have a higher degree of difficulty on their shots from the floor - they attempted 28 3-pointers; their most since launching 30 on Nov. 18 against Misercordia (PA).

Notre Dame controlled Friday's game early on. When junior guard Molly Baker (Avon Lake, OH) knocked down a trey at 12:47, NDC held a 13-7 lead. Roberts worked their way back into the game over the next couple minutes. Most of the half was played evenly from that point on, with the two AMC North foes trading leads. The Raiders, however, got baskets from four different players over the final 1:50 in an 8-0 run that sent them into halftime with a 33-26 lead.

In the second, NDC worked themselves back into the game with solid defense. In the opening four minutes of play, NDC collected a pair of blocked shots and three steals. That ignited a 9-3 run capped off by a steal and a lay-up by Ashley Carney, at 15:59.

Over the next four minutes, however, Roberts got back on track with a run of their own. By 12:34, they had rebuilt their lead and held a nine-point advantage, 46-37. Notre Dame would cut that lead to three on a Carney trey at 10:46, but that's as close as the Falcons would come on a night when they struggled to find a rhythm offensively.

Roberts Wesleyan built a double-digit lead and would eventually win by six, 72-66, to even the season series between the two schools, at one game apiece.

Erin Farney (Jr/Ovid, NY) and Joanna Patalano (Sr/Rochester, NY) led the Raider effort with 19 points each. Farney added 11 boards. RWC shot 45.7 percent (32-for-70) from the floor for the game and out-rebounded Notre Dame, 47-43.

The game was the first of two games in two days for NDC. Notre Dame will play the second half of their New York back-to-back Saturday, when they take on Houghton College in Houghton, N.Y. at 5:30pm.

NOTES FROM THE NEST...

DAILY DOUBLE : Jamie Henry's double-double in points and rebounds was her fifth of the season; that leads the team. Henry came into the weekend's action ranked ninth in the AMC in rebounds, with 8.2 per contest.

STEAL-Y RESOLVE : Friday's NDC-RWC game featured a total of 37 steals, 21 for Notre Dame and 16 for Roberts. Ashley Carney led NDC with six thefts. RWC's Aimee Kovinchick (Sr/Mansfield, OH) matched that total. Kovinchick leads the circuit in steals (4.1 per game). The Raiders, as a team, also lead the AMC and rank 10th in the nation with 13.1 steals per game.

SERIES: NDC and Roberts split their regular season series, 1-1. The Falcons topped the Raiders in South Euclid on Jan. 16. ... For the Falcons, Friday's loss snapped a seven-game winning streak over the Raiders.