This Week: Notre Dame College hosts Wheeling Jesuit tomorrow, January 23, at 5:30 p.m. before welcoming Urbana on Saturday, January 26, at 2 p.m.  
 
Records: The Falcons are currently 8-8 (5-5 MEC) after two losses on the road last week. Wheeling Jesuit is 3-13 (1-9 MEC) after a 10-game skid that began against NDC on November 28, 2018. Urbana is 1-13 (1-9 MEC). The Blue Knight lone victory came against Wheeling Jesuit.  
 
Coaches Corner: Lauren Macer is in her second season as the head coach of the NDC women's basketball program. She holds a record of 31-17, 22-10 MEC. Mike Llanas is in his debut season at Wheeling Jesuit. He is currently 3-13 (1-9 MEC). Andrea McCloskey is in her second season at the helm of the Urbana team. She is 13-28 (11-21 MEC).
 
Rankings: None of these teams were ranked in the January 13 Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll.
 
Series History: The Falcons are 9-4 against Urbana since joining the NCAA Division II ranks in the 2012-13 season. Last year, the teams split their contests with each team winning at home. NDC is 7-5 against Wheeling Jesuit after defeating the Cardinals on the road 66-48 earlier in the season.
 
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame is coming off of two-straight loses against Mountain East Conference teams after a road trip to Shepherd and Fairmont State last week. But under head coach Lauren Macer, the Falcons have never lost three conference games in a row. In their second loss at FSU, Notre Dame shot just 36.5 percent from the field. This season, when shooting under 40 percent, the Falcons are 2-3 including a 1-3 MEC record. In games where they shoot above 40 percent, they are 4-2 in conference play. In their five home games this season, the Falcons have shot 46.3 percent; and in home MEC games, they are making nearly half of their shots (49.6).
 
Noting the Cardinals: Wheeling Jesuit's struggles this season have come on both ends of the court as the Cardinals rank last in field goal percentage (.349) and 10^th in opponent's field goal percentage (.444). Shooting and guarding threes have been a major reason for these outputs as WJU ranks 11^th in both three-point field goal percentage (.270) and opponent's three-point field goal percentage (.359). The only team that ranks lower in defending the three is Notre Dame (.367 allowed), but the Cardinals have allowed 14 more threes this season than the Falcons have.
 
Noting the Blue Knights: Urbana joins Wheeling Jesuit as the only other team in the Mountain East to have a scoring margin below -10. Both schools are close with WJU's margin at -17.6 and Urbana's at -17.8. The Blue Knights join the Cardinals in the lower half in offensive scoring and shooting, but their weakness lies more on the defensive end as Urbana ranks last in scoring defense (88.7 points per game) and opponent's field goal percentage (.456).