This Week: Notre Dame College travels to West Virginia State on Wednesday, January 30, at 5:30 p.m. before hosting Charleston on Saturday, February 2, at 2 p.m.
 
Records: The Falcons are currently 10-8 (7-5 MEC) winning two conference home games last week. West Virginia State is 4-14 (3-9 MEC) and are currently on a four-game losing streak. Charleston is 15-3 (10-2 MEC). The Golden Eagles lost to Concord and defeated WVSU last week.   
 
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 33-17, 24-10 MEC. Charles Marshall is in his third season at the helm of the Yellow Jackets, and his sixth as a head coach in the Mountain East Conference. Marshall previously had a three-year stint at Glenville State. Marshall is 32-45 (28-28 MEC) at WVSU and 93-74 (73-49 MEC) overall as a head coach. Becky Burke is in her debut season with Charleston. She is 15-3, 10-2 MEC.
 
Rankings: None of these teams were ranked in the January 21 Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll.
 
Series History: The Falcons are 8-4 against West Virginia State after defeating the Yellow Jackets 93-82 at home earlier this season. NDC is 8-5 against Charleston after a 71-61 loss on the road in early December. Head coach Lauren Macer is 3-0 against WVSU and 3-1 against Charleston.  
 
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame splits its time on the road and at home this week as the Falcons will look to move up from their fifth place standing in the Mountain East. So far this season, NDC has fared better at home with a 5-1 home MEC record and a 2-4 road MEC record. Whether they are on the road or at home, though, one thing that holds true is the scoring differential. In 18 games this season, 13 have been decided by 10 or more points; and in the five games that are under a 10-point difference, two have been decided by nine points.
 
Noting the Yellow Jackets: West Virginia State has only four wins to its name this season, but that is not because the team struggles to score. WVSU is the fourth-ranked scoring offense in the Mountain East (77.2 ppg). All other teams that rank in the top half of the conference all have double-digit wins. Where the Yellow Jackets do struggle, is keeping other teams from scoring. WVSU is the 11th-ranked scoring defense in the MEC (85.9 ppg). Only two of the six teams in the bottom half of the conference defensive rankings have winning records (Glenville State and West Liberty). It's a volume game for the Yellow Jackets on offense. West Virginia State is the second-worst shooting team in the MEC (.366), but they take more shots per game (70.7) than all but one team (Glenville State (87.4)).
 
Noting the Golden Eagles: Charleston has been the surprise team of the 2018-19 season. The Golden Eagles were picked to finish sixth in the conference before the season started and currently are tied for second in the MEC standings. This improvement from the 8-14 MEC record the team had last year is largely due to the arrival of head coach Becky Burke and senior transfer Raziyah Farrington. Burke joined UC after the conclusion of the 2017-18 season coming off of two successful seasons at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Last season, Burke led ERAU to a 21-6 record and her team was voted into the top 25 during that season. She graduated from Louisville in 2012 after being on three NCAA Tournament teams, which included a National Title appearance in 2009. Farrington is a Division I transfer from Western Carolina. In three seasons at WCU, she averaged 9.3 points in 62 games. Farrington ranks second in the MEC this season in scoring in her debut Division II season (22.8 ppg).