Basketball Recap: Notre Dame Takes Loss Despite Strong Performances from Laney Strickland and Brianne Hicks

Notre Dame was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their fourth straight defeat. They lost 54-30 to the Athens Bulldogs. While losing is never fun, the Titans can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 305th, while the Bulldogs are ranked 61st).

Despite the loss, Notre Dame had strong showings from Brianne Hicks, who posted 11 points, and Laney Strickland, who dropped a double-double on ten points and ten rebounds.

Athens' success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Ella Chapman led the charge by going 5 for 7 en route to 12 points in addition to six boards and three steals. Chapman has been hot for a while, having posted two or more steals the last 25 times she's played. Alexis Koopal was another key player, almost dropping a double-double on 12 points and nine rebounds.

Notre Dame's defeat dropped their record down to 7-5. As for Athens, the win was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 11-2.

Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Notre Dame has already played their next contest (against Clay), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing. Athens will be playing at home against Federal Hocking at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Athens is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 58.9 points per game this season.