LADY TIGERS STOP ND FOR THIRD TIME

Something went afoul for the Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs Thursday night.

Notre Dame's top two scorers, Deana McCormick and Randi Senciboy, both fouled out, and Cape Central made 22 free throws as the visiting Lady Tigers downed the Lady Bulldogs 40-35.

The game was the third between the two teams this season. Cape Central, which improved to 7-2, has won all three. Notre Dame fell to 6-7.

In all, the Lady Tigers shot 36 free throws.

Notre Dame shot and made two.

McCormick, a freshman post player, fouled out with 3 minutes, 51 seconds remaining in the game. She left with 11 points.

Senciboy, who scored a game-high 14 points, picked up her fifth foul with 1:00 left with the Lady Bulldogs trailing 37-33.

"That was the game right there," Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim said.

"I knew something had to stop the clock," Senciboy said of the possession when she fouled out. "I was really going for the ball."

With Notre Dame's two main offensive threats sitting on the bench, the Lady Bulldogs couldn't come back even though the Lady Tigers didn't shoot well from the foul line down the stretch.

Senciboy had hit two foul shots with 1:53 to pull the game to 37-33.

Neither team scored until Central's Dionna Webb -- after the Lady Tigers had missed six straight from the foul line -- hit two free throws with :17.9 left to put her team up by six.

Notre Dame center Jessica Seratti scored a basket with :10 left to close the gap to 35-39 and Webb, who scored 11 points, hit another free throw with :4.2 left to account for the final margin.

Cape Central scored 14 points in the final quarter without making a field goal.

Overall the game was a defensive battle.

"I would say that this is the best defensive effort that we've had all year," Grimm said.

Both teams' pressure on the perimeter resulted in dozens of tipped and stolen passes.

Notre Dame committed 24 turnovers, while Cape Central turned the ball over 22 times.

The Lady Tigers were held to 36 percent (9-of-25) from the floor, while Notre Dame hit 38 percent (14-of-37) of its shots

"It was a tough win," Central coach Darrick Smith said. "There are a lot of things that I'm not happy with but at the same time I was proud of the kids for taking care of the ball at the end of the game. We didn't make our free throws but we took care of the ball."

Sophomore Katie Dougherty scored 12 points to lead the Lady Tigers.

Senciboy hit four 3-pointers in the game on six attempts.

She would've shot more, but Notre Dame wasn't giving her many open looks.

"Central has a very good defense," she said. "The switch on defense so it makes it hard to get open."