WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The No. 13-ranked West Liberty University women's basketball team had its 14-game winning streak halted Monday night as Notre Dame opened up a double-digit lead in the first half and held on for a 65-61 upset in a meeting of the Mountain East Conference's two hottest teams.

Coach Lynn Ullom's Hilltoppers (16-2, 11-1) missed 15 consecutive 3-point shots during one stretch and shot under 40 percent for the game but the veteran head man pointed to another spot on the stat sheet to tell the story of how the Falcons escaped with their ninth straight win.

"You can't have (a season-high) 24 turnovers and expect to beat a good basketball team," Ullom said. "I've never had a team that is as careless with the basketball. We have addressed this every single day since our first practice in the preseason but we have yet to change the way we refuse to take care of the basketball and it came back to bite us tonight."

The loss took some of the luster off a major milestone for WLU senior Kiki Simpson. The hyper-talented post became the first Lady Hilltopper ever to record 1,000 career rebounds early in the first quarter.

"That's a tremendous accomplishment," Ullom said, "especially when you consider that Kiki basically did that in 2 ½ seasons. She's a living testimony to what hard work and dedication can do and I'm tremendously proud of her. It's a shame for that to be somewhat overshadowed by a poor team performance that left all of us disappointed."

The lead swung back and forth for much of the first quarter but West Liberty went cold from the floor in the second quarter and a 13-4 surge by Notre Dame (12-6, 9-3) gave the visitors a 35-24 lead just before halftime.

Despite their continued struggles from the field, the Hilltoppers were able to close the gap to 43-39 heading into the fourth quarter and a Brandi Beader drive trimmed the margin to a single point, 45-44, with 8:10 left to play.

Kim Cook answered with a 3-pointer for NDC and Martha Nagbe added a pair of free throws for a 50-44 bulge before Emily Bucon hit a 3-pointer of her own to cut the deficit in half, 50-47, with 5:07remaining.

Bucon's bomb ended the lengthy 3-point shooting drought for the hosts and seemed to knock the lid off the basket for freshman Johnie Olkosky, as well.

Olkosky drained a trio of 3-pointers over the next 2 ½ minutes with her third bonus bomb forging the game's first tie, 58-58, since midway through the opening quarter but the Hilltoppers couldn't get over the hump.

After an exchange of turnovers, Alyssa Kraus put the Falcons ahead to stay, 60-58, with a contested jumper from the foul line at the 1:34 mark.

After West Liberty missed a pair of turnovers, Notre Dame missed a shot at the other end but got the rebound to extend the possession.

The Hilltoppers got the ball back on a steal with 50 seconds left, giving them a chance to tie or take the lead in the final minute, but the Black and Gold turned it over again before reaching midcourt and Cook drained a dagger of a 3-pointer to put the game out of reach, 63-58, with 35 seconds to go.

Simpson led the way with 17 points and 15 rebounds – both game-highs and her 12th double-double of the season. Olkosky hit 5 3-pointers and matched Simpson's 17 points while Liz Flowers added 12 points and 10 rebounds in a losing cause.

Nagbe topped Notre Dame with 16 points, 7 steals and 6 rebounds while Cook joined her in double-figures with 11 points.

West Liberty returns to action on Thursday when Charleston comes to the ASRC for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.