SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- Notre Dame College closed out Fairmont State in the second half to pick up a 74-63 victory on Wednesday night at Murphy Gymnasium in South Euclid.
 
Sierra Kotchman, who scored 16 of her points in the second half, finished the game with 21 points and eight rebounds, turning in an 8-of-22 shooting performance with five 3-pointers on the evening. Katy Darnell also scored 21 points for the Falcons to go with 12 rebounds and three assists. Darnell's 21 points set a new career-high, while her 12 rebounds matched a career-high. Darnell's previous career-high was 12 points back on Feb. 19, 2020 during her freshman season.
 
With Kotchman's 21-point scoring performance on Wednesday night, the senior now has 1,722 career points. She needs just 49 more points to crack the top-five in school history in scoring.
 
With the game tied at the half, Notre Dame (4-1, 4-1 MEC) surged ahead in the third quarter by five, 47-42. NDC was able to grab the slim lead by holding Fairmont State to just 4-of-14 from the field with 12 points in the third quarter.
 
Fairmont State (1-3, 1-3 MEC) responded and kept it close early on in the fourth quarter, but a 7-0 run from NDC stretched the lead to nine (56-47) with seven minutes remaining.
 
Fairmont State had one more run midway through the fourth and pulled within a point at 58-57 after a Sierra Kotchman three, but six-straight points from Notre Dame gave the home team the breathing room it needed to complete the win.
 
In addition to 21 points apiece from Kotchman and Darnell, the Falcons also got 10 points from Alyssa DeAngelo and four points and five rebounds from Jalen Gibbs.

Marina Adachi and Jada Marone each had 21 points for Notre Dame College. Tamia Ridley also scored 11 points and had a team-high eight rebounds. Theresa Parr also reached double-figures by scoring 12 points and dished out four assists for NDC.
 
Notre Dame shot 44.3 percent from the field, compared to just 38.5 percent for Fairmont State. NDC also forced Fairmont State into 20 turnovers on the evening, although only nine of them came as a result of a steal.
 
Fairmont State held a 42-37 advantage on the glass.
 
The Falcons will return to action on Saturday at Joe Retton Arena when Alderson Broaddus comes to town for a 2 p.m. tipoff.