RELEASE DATE: 11/28/09

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Turnover sink Mansfield women in 84-76 loss at Notre Dame (OH) – Mounties suffer first loss of the season as late rally falls short

SOUTH EUCLID, OH – Mallory Hafer topped four Mountaineers in double-figures with a game-high 21 points but 27 turnovers doomed Mansfield in a 84-76 loss at Notre Dame (OH) Saturday afternoon.

Mansfield took a 12-6 lead six minutes into the game, but a 7-0 run by Notre Dame gave them a 13-12 lead two minutes later. The game went back-and-forth for the remainder of the first half with the lead changing 11 times in the first 17 minutes before Notre Dame broke a 34-34 tie with 2:38 to play in the first half taking a 42-36 lead into halftime.

Notre Dame extended its lead to 58-44 five minutes into the second half and led by as many as 18 points with just over eight minutes to play before Mansfield came roaring back with a 19-3 run to cut the lead to 74-72 on a Mallory Moore layup with 2:59 to play.

But the Mountaineers only managed to hit on 1-of-7 shots in the game’s final minutes and Notre Dame held on for the win.

Mansfield held a 56-35 rebounding advantage but turned the ball over 27 times resulting in 24 Notre Dame points.

Hafer scored 13 of her 21 points in the second half and connected on five 3-pointers. Junior guard Nicole Pender scored a career-high 19 points, including 8-10 from the free throw line while Moore recorded a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Junior Tegan Atallah also had her first collegiate double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. She also blocked three shots.

Tracy Payne (3-1) led four players in double-figures for Notre Dame with 19 points.

Mansfield falls to 2-1 on the season and will play at Lake Erie on Sunday afternoon.

Newspaper Box Score

Mansfield University vs NOTRE DAME

11/28/09 1:00 PM at South Euclid, Ohio (Murphy Gymnasium)

At South Euclid, Ohio (Murphy Gymnasium)

NOTRE DAME 84, MANSFIELD UNIVERSITY 76

MANSFIELD UNIVERSITY (2-1)

HAFER, Mallory 8-12 0-0 21; PENDER, Nicole 5-15 8-10 19; MOORE, Mallory 8-12

0-0 16; ATALLAH, Tegan 3-12 4-6 10; HAFER, Meredith 3-7 1-2 7; STEVENSON,

Julia 1-3 1-2 3; LACEY, Victoria 0-2 0-0 0; ESPIGH, Kayla 0-2 0-0 0; LACEY,

Emma 0-0 0-0 0; REEVES, Sydnee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-65 14-20 76.

NOTRE DAME (3-1)

PAYNE, Tracy 6-15 6-7 19; HUNTER, Yvette 6-7 0-0 12; BROWN, Amanda 5-10 0-2

10; McNALLY, Kealy 4-11 2-2 10; MACER, Lauren 4-9 0-0 9; DACKIN, Alex 3-8

0-2 7; ANDORKA, Chelsea 3-10 1-1 7; DRUM, Michelle 1-2 1-2 3; WALLACE,

Ashley 0-3 3-4 3; WATERMAN, Kelsey 1-2 0-0 2; McLEOD, Ashanti 0-1 2-2 2;

TERRY, Brittany 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 33-80 15-22 84.

Mansfield University..........   36   40  -   76

NOTRE DAME....................   42   42  -   84

3-point goals--Mansfield University 6-18 (HAFER, Mallory 5-9; PENDER, Nicole

1-1; ATALLAH, Tegan 0-2; HAFER, Meredith 0-2; LACEY, Victoria 0-2; ESPIGH,

Kayla 0-1; MOORE, Mallory 0-1), NOTRE DAME 3-17 (DACKIN, Alex 1-2; MACER,

Lauren 1-2; PAYNE, Tracy 1-2; McNALLY, Kealy 0-4; DRUM, Michelle 0-1;

WATERMAN, Kelsey 0-1; TERRY, Brittany 0-2; BROWN, Amanda 0-3). Fouled

out--Mansfield University-None, NOTRE DAME-None. Rebounds--Mansfield

University 56 (MOORE, Mallory 14; ATALLAH, Tegan 14), NOTRE DAME 35 (HUNTER,

Yvette 8). Assists--Mansfield University 10 (PENDER, Nicole 5), NOTRE DAME 9

(BROWN, Amanda 3). Total fouls--Mansfield University 18, NOTRE DAME 15.

Technical fouls--Mansfield University-None, NOTRE DAME-None. A-128