This week: Notre Dame College travels to Shepherd and Fairmont State this week for their first games of February. Thursday, February 1, the Falcons will visit the Rams for a 5:30 p.m. game followed by a trip to FSU on Saturday, February 3, for a 2 p.m. tip.
 
Records: The Falcons are 14-7, 10-4 MEC after winning both of their games last week. Shepherd is 9-11, 5-9 MEC and is currently on a three-game skid while Fairmont State is 10-10, 5-9 MEC after most recently defeating Salem.
 
Coaches Corner: Lauren Macer is in her first season as the head coach of the Notre Dame women's basketball program. She currently has a record of 14-7. Jenna Eckleberry is in her second year at the helm of Shepherd's women's program. Eckleberry is 31-21 after a strong first season when she led the Rams to an NCAA Tournament appearance. Steve McDonald is in his 18th season with Fairmont State. McDonald is 348-176 in his time at FSU.
 
Rankings: None of the teams playing this week were ranked in the January 30 Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll.
 
Series History: NDC is 6-3 against both Shepherd and Fairmont State since joining the Mountain East Conference prior to the 2013-14 season. Notre Dame won their home games against each of these teams earlier in the season.
 
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame turned its road struggles around last week with a win at Charleston after losing its previous two road games. The Falcons are 5-5 on the road this season, including a 3-4 MEC road record. NDC has had some of its best and worst shooting performances on the road. The team has shot over 44 percent eight times this season, five of them coming on the road. They have also had seven games shooting under 40 percent, four of which came on the road. The Falcons have only had one away game where their shooting has fallen between those marks. The Falcons are 3-2 when shooting about 44 percent and 1-3 when shooting below 40 in those games. Both Shepherd (6-2) and Fairmont State (8-4) have solid home records so it will be a challenging week for NDC.
 
Noting the Rams: Despite Shepherd ranking third in the MEC in three-point field goal percentage, the Rams don't shoot many threes. Their 306 three-point attempts this season are the second lowest of any other team in the conference. Shooting from distance has been limited to just four players this season at SU. Lauren Reed, Tiffany McKinney, Kayla Tibbs and Morgan Arden combine for all but 10 attempts from beyond the arc. Arden is one of the best scorers in the Mountain East as she ranks second in the league with 21.2 points per game. Her 47.6 percent shooting from three-point range is best in the conference. The senior guard scored 17 against the Falcons in their previous game this season.
 
Noting the Fighting Falcons: Fairmont State also boasts one of the best scorers in the conference in Sierra Kotchman who is third in scoring with a 19.5 point per game average. The Fighting Falcons have a well-balanced unit of players as at least one member of their team ranks in the top 10 in all but one major categories. Kotchman ranks high in nearly all shooting categories (FG%, FT%, 3FG% and 3FGM) while forward Kelli Jo Harrison ranks third in rebounding and ninth in blocked shots. Guard Ozge Yarga is 10th in assists and sixth in assist to turnover ratio and Brooke Kurucz rounds out the Fighting Falcons as she ranks 13th in scoring and 11th in steals.