Sylvia Hudson shook off early foul trouble to lead the Urbana University women’s basketball team to a 91-81 home victory over Notre Dame College on Saturday and into second place in the Mountain East Conference standings.
“It was a really big win, I think the girls are excited about this one,” said UU head coach Andrea McCloskey. “We need to improve our ability to handle late-game situations, but all in all, I was really pleased with our overall performance. Our girls were hyped and excited about this game.
“After playing double overtime two days ago, you started to see a little bit of fatigue. We knew they would send everyone at Stef (Davis), and she makes us go, so I was glad to see her and the rest of our players push through. Notre Dame did a nice job of pressuring us there at the end.”
Hudson, a sophomore, was held to only six points in the first half while sitting most of the first two quarters with a pair of fouls, but was scorching after the break to finish with 25 points for the Blue Knights (10-6, 8-4 MEC). Senior guard Stefanie Davis added a balanced effort with 20 points, five rebounds, six assists and four steals, while fellow starters Megan Beachy (14 points), Danie Shafer (11) and Jazmyn Haley (10) all scored in double figures.
For the Falcons (12-7, 8-4 MEC), sophomore guard Seina Adachi led all scorers with 29 points while also registering eight steals. Kim Cook added 16 points for the visitors.
The Falcons entered the game shooting a conference-best 38 percent from behind the three-point line while surrendering a conference-worst 37 percent three-point defense to opponents. The Blue Knights owned the perimeter, making 53 percent of their long-range attempts (8-of-15) while holding NDC to 32 percent from deep (8-of-25).
The win snapped a three-game losing streak to the Falcons for UU while vaulting the Knights to second place in the conference standings. For Notre Dame, it was the second consecutive road loss after an 8-2 start to MEC play. The in-state rivals will see each other again to close the regular season Feb. 24 in South Euclid.
UU returns to action Wednesday at the Grimes Center, hosting the Charleston Golden Eagles (8-9, 5-7 MEC) at 5:30 p.m.
