Notre Dame girls basketball team rallies late to beat Farmington 62-57

Fortunately for the Notre Dame girls basketball team, wins don't have to be pretty.

That was the case when the Bulldogs outlasted Farmington 62-57 at home Monday night.

"Whenever we came out, I don't really think we were ready to play," Notre Dame senior Brooke Bohnert said. "It was a roller coaster. We would be in the lead, then they would be up six points, then we would come back."

Both teams were plagued by turnovers, missed layups and defensive breakdowns.

"We looked, I don't want to say dead, but we looked like we just had the wind taken out of our sails," Notre Dame coach Renee Peters said. "We had a tough game on Saturday at Nerinx [Hall]. We practiced yesterday, and I know they're tired, but they have to be able to play through that. We missed layups. We turned the ball over. We missed rebounds, but we found a way to win, and we'll take that out of this game tonight."

Notre Dame’s Miranda Fowler and Farminton’s Loralee Bader struggle for possession of the ball during the fourth quarter Monday at Notre Dame Regional High School. Notre Dame won 62-57. (Laura Simon)

The Bulldogs' biggest problem came on the offensive end.

Farmington's in-your-face defense forced problems for Notre Dame's guards all night.

"They were getting their hands on a lot of balls," Notre Dame junior Miranda Fowler said. "We were having difficulty making good passes because they had a hand in every single one of our passes."

Suspense was in greater supply than execution as the Bulldogs and Knights played to a virtual stalemate through three quarters.

Farmington opened a 19-13 lead one minute in the second quarter, but the Bulldogs responded by closing the half on a 17-9 run to take a 30-27 lead.

Notre Dame's Brooke Bohnert takes a jump shot in the third quarter Monday, January 9, 2012 at Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau. Notre Dame won 62-57. (Laura Simon)

Farmington's Jordan Martin, a 5-foot-7 sophomore guard, scored 21 of her game-high 28 points during the first half.

"Farmington is a good team," Peters said. "[Martin] did not play against us the first time. She was not on our radar, but boy she had half their points tonight. I told them at halftime, ‘If you let one person beat you, then obviously you don't deserve this win.' And, ‘We have to make sure we step it up and guard them.' It was painful at times."

Martin was a thorn in the Bulldogs' side, getting open shots the entire half and slashing to the basket.

Notre Dame saw its three-point lead trimmed to 43-42 by the start of the fourth quarter.

Farmington looked like it might be poised to avenge a 14-point loss suffered in early December, moving ahead by six points midway through the fourth quarter. A Sara Pinkley basket and a Martin 3-pointer put the Knights ahead 55-49 with just under four minutes left.

The Bulldogs threw away several passes and failed to get good shots during Farmington's push into the lead.

"We needed to settle down and take our time and get going and play our own game," Fowler said.

Notre Dame finally found its stride.

Sophomore guard Karsen Powers buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key to narrow the gap to 55-52, and Brooke Bohnert then netted two free throws to draw the Bulldogs within one point with just less than three minutes to play.

"Power's 3 really kind of put us back into it," Peters said. "Finally in the fourth quarter we were able to get a little bit of relief. That was a huge 3, and I think we came back and we got in the bonus before they did and we were able to make some free throws."

Notre Dame took the lead on a Fowler basket with 1 minute, 57 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs then netted enough free throws to hold on.

Farmington scored just one point over the last 3:45.

"It was sloppy," Peters said. "It wasn't the game we had hoped for, but it finished well, so we'll take it."

Farmington 10 17 15 15 -- 56

Notre Dame 11 19 13 19 -- 62

FARMINGTON (56) -- Shania Sweeny2, Caitlyn Friend 2, Sara Pinkley 8, Kaitlyn Gilliam 5, Jordan Martin 28, Rachel Williams 12. FG 24. FT 4-8. (3-pointers: Gilliam, Martin 4. Fouled out: Williams, Jessica Hicks.)

NOTRE DAME (62) -- Miranda Fowler 21, Annie Siebert 7, Kaitlin Welter 2, Karsen Powers 7, Summer Burger 9, Madison Huckstep 4, Brooke Bohnert 12. FG 21. FT 18-30. (3 pointers: Fowler, Powers. Fouled out: none.)