SOUTH EUCLID (Ohio) – For three quarters, it looked like the West Virginia Wesleyan Lady Bobcats were going to pull off a huge upset against the Notre Dame Falcons tonight in a Mountain East Conference road contest.

The Lady 'Cats led 55-53 after three quarters of action, but a fourth-quarter collapse cost Wesleyan in a 77-63 loss.

Wesleyan was outscored by a 24-8 margin in the final quarter.

Wesleyan was down early by a 5-2 score but reeled of the next nine points of the game.

Mari Stewart made a lay-up and then a three-pointer, Tara Goldman went inside for two points and Brooke Richard (pictured) made a short jumper that gave Wesleyan an 11-5 lead with 4:44 remaining in the first quarter.

Up 16-9, Wesleyan went on a 7-0 run when Rachel Vandertoolen took over the game and scored all seven points to treat the Lady Bobcats to a 14-point lead, at 23-9.

Notre Dame closed out the quarter with a three-pointer, but Wesleyan still led by a 23-12 score heading into the second quarter.

Notre Dame scored the first seven points of the second quarter before Goldman made two free throws and Adrian Cunningham followed with a jumper to push the Wesleyan lead back to eight, at 27-19, with 6:31 remaining in the half.

Notre Dame outscored Wesleyan by a 9-2 margin over the next two minutes to make it a 29-28 contest, but Vandertoolen scored the next four points of the game and gave Wesleyan a 33-28 advantage with 2:37 left in the first half.

Wesleyan went into the break up by four, at 38-34.

Notre Dame opened the second half on an 11-6 run and an Alyssa Kraus gave Notre Dame their first lead since early in the first quarter at 45-44.

The two teams traded baskets over the next three minutes as Wesleyan owned a 50-49 lead with 2:44 left in the third quarter before Allie Browne made a jumper Goldman darted inside for two points to push the Lady Bobcat lead back to five, at 54-49.

Notre Dame scored four of the last five points of the third quarter, but Wesleyan still led by two, at 55-53.

The fourth quarter was a disaster for the Lady 'Cats as they made just three field goals and two free throws, and they didn't score during the final four minutes of the game.

Notre Dame started the fourth quarter on an 8-3 run to take a 61-57 lead, but Goldman scored a lay-up to keep Wesleyan down by two, at 61-59, with 7:03 left in the contest.

Two baskets by the Falcons put them up 65-59 before Browne tallied a lay-up to make it a 65-61 game.

Down 70-61, Stewart made a jumper at the four-minute mark to bring Wesleyan to within seven at the four-minute mark, but Notre Dame closed the game on a 7-0 run as the Lady Bobcats failed to score in the final four minutes.

Stewart led the Lady Bobcat offense with 14 points while Vandertoolen came off the bench to score 13.

Goldman scored 12 while Cunningham and Browne each had nine points.

The loss dropped Wesleyan to 3-14 overall and 1-12 in the MEC.

They will return to action on the road this Saturday when they play Urbana at 2 p.m.