Shoot and miss
Bear hunt comes up empty against No. 16 Shawnee
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PORTSMOUTH, Ohio – Notre Dame put it's 9-1 mark up against the 10-1 record of No. 16 Shawnee State Friday. The end result was a 30-point blowout loss for NDC, as the ranked Bears clawed the Falcons, 90-60. The game was the first of back-to-backs for the Falcons in the Wendy's/BW-3 Classic hosted by Shawnee in the James A. Rhodes Center in Portsmouth.

The loss for Notre Dame (9-2) ended a two-game winning streak; for the Bears (11-1) the victory extended what is now an 11-game winning streak and it served notice that the South Division of the American Mideast Conference (AMC) is loaded this season on the women's circuit. As it stands before conference play kicks in, the South boasts no fewer than five teams with winning percentages over .750: SSU (11-1), Mt. Vernon Nazarene (10-1), Rio Grande (11-2), Urbana (8-2), and Ohio Dominican (9-3).

Friday's loss for NDC was scripted in the game's first 10 minutes. In the Falcons' first seven trips down the floor, NDC missed five shots and committed two turnovers. The Bears, playing at home in the first day of the two-day invitational, took advantage of the opening and jumped out to a 15-0 lead by 16:09. By the 10-minute mark, the Falcons found themselves down, 29-6, after hitting just 2-of-14 from the field. The shooting woes would continue for Notre Dame all night; NDC went into halftime trailing 47-34 and then shot an abysmal 17.9 percent (7-for-39) after the break. At least part of that figure gets credited to a staunch Bear defense which ranks in the Top-10 in the nation in field goal defense (34.0 percent, coming into Friday's game).

In the middle of the second half, the Bears went on a 25-4 run that included 11 missed shots in 12 attempts for NDC. The final margin of defeat, 30 points, is the Falcons' worst this year; they lost by 26 in their only other misstep this season, an 87-61 loss at home to Rio Grande on Dec. 1.

Becky Babione (Jr/Fremont, OH) led a parade of 11 Shawnee players to score in the game. The 6-foot center scored 21 points for the Bears, who hit 12 3-pointers and also dominated on the glass (63-38 edge in rebounding).

The Falcons were led by junior guard Molly Baker (Avon Lake, OH), who hit on 6-of-7 from 3-point range and racked up 28 points. Baker also collected six rebounds, five of which came on the offensive end. The NDC newcomer hit on 11-of-19 from the floor; the rest of the NDC Women shot just 14.5 percent (8-for-55) in the game.

Sophomore guard Amanda Brown (Vienna, VA) was second on the team in scoring, with 14 points Friday, but she did most of her damage from the line. She was 4-of-14 from the field. Notre Dame's three other starters, Yvette Hunter (Fr/Jamestown, NY), Ashley Carney (Jr/Solon, OH), and Jamie Henry (Jr/Garfield Heights, OH), combined to go 3-for-31 (9.7 percent) in the game.

The Falcons will have an opportunity to bounce back from the defeat sooner rather than later - they will play Campbellsville (KY) in day-two of the four-team invitational on Saturday at 1:00pm.

Notes from the Nest...

Boarded up: Notre Dame's minus-25 on the boards Friday marks a season-low. No Falcon had more than three defensive rebounds Friday, and the team has now been out-rebounded in five of their last six games. Baker's 6.6 rebounds per contest leads the team, which now ranks 13th in the 16-team AMC in rebounding.

Bear trap: The Falcons have now lost five of their last six games against SSU. The 30-point margin of defeat at the hands of the Bears on Friday is Notre Dame's worst since Feb. 12, 2002 (97-51 loss at Cedarville).

Double-digits: Both of NDC's losses this year have been in blowouts. Likewise, the Falcons are among the top teams in the nation in margin of victory. In two losses, NDC has averaged a 28.0-point margin of defeat. In their nine wins, the Falcons have an average margin of victory of 22.9 points. Only two of their first 11 games have been decided by fewer than 10 points.