WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Unbeaten Mountain East Conference leader Notre Dame opened the game with an 11-2 burst and held the West Liberty women at bay the rest of the way in easing to an 84-69 victory at the ASRC.
    Coach Kyle Cooper's Hilltoppers (3-3, 0-2) made several runs over the course of the night but couldn't get over the hump as the Falcons (6-0, 2-0) took advantage of another cold shooting night for the Black and Gold.
    West Liberty made only 10-of-34 shots (29 percent) from the 3-point line and shot just 10-for-36 (27 percent) inside the arc to finish at 20-for-70 (28 percent) from the floor.
    Coming on the heels of Saturday's 29 percent shooting performance in a loss at Urbana, it marked the first time in more than two decades that the Hilltoppers had been held below 30 percent from the floor in back-to-back games.
    "I'm sure it's a very difficult thing to hear right now coming off a couple of poor shooting performances," Cooper said, "but there are times when I see us doing really good things. The problem is not doing them with enough consistency and not doing them in big possessions.
    "There were several times tonight when we would put a series of defensive stops together but didn't reward ourselves by getting a good shot or creating a quality scoring opportunity at the other end. It's up to me to coach us better to help us keep our focus and be disciplined enough to do what we do best in those critical situations."
    Notre Dame never trailed but the unbeaten Falcons weren't able to finally put the hard-working Hilltoppers away till the final few minutes.
    Trailing 40-31 at the half, pulled within five points on multiple occasions in the third quarter. A pair of Morgan Brunner free throws cut the gap to 58-53 with just 2 seconds left in the frame but Notre Dame's Marisa Finazzo banked in a half-court prayer at the buzzer for a 61-53 Falcon lead.
    A Brunner 3-pointer made it 69-63 as the clock ticked under seven minutes but Notre Dame scored 9 of the next 10 points to go up 78-64 with under four minutes to play and the game was gone.
    Brunner led West Liberty with 18 points while Olivia Belknap added 15 points - all in the second half - and Taylor Johnson chipped in with a dozen points and 8 rebounds. Audrey Tingle had a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with 3 assists and 2 steals.
    Notre Dame got a game-high 23 points from All-MEC senior Seina Adachi. Katie Karalic and Jen Oduho joined Adachi in double figures with 16 and 11 points, respectively.
    "I know we're a better shooting team than we've shown the last couple of games because of what I've seen in practice and what everybody saw in our previous games," Cooper said. "I have faith that it will happen because I know how hard my staff and my players will work to make it happen."
    The Lady Hilltoppers will be idle over the Thanksgiving break before returning to MEC play on Dec. 4 when they host West Virginia Wesleyan. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at the ASRC.