This Week: Notre Dame will be traveling to Erie, PA, Saturday, November 11 for a 2 p.m. matchup against the Mercyhurst University Lakers.

Records: The Falcons are currently 2-0 after defeating Winston-Salem State University and Livingstone College in West Virginia. Mercyhurst is 0-2 to start the season after losing to two MEC teams in West Liberty and Charleston.

Coaches Corner: Lauren Macer is in her third season as head coach of the Falcons she holds a record of 40-23, 29-15 MEC. Brooklyn Kohlheim is in her first season as coach of the Lakers. She currently holds a record of 0-2 at Mercyhurst and an overall record of 11-18 as a head coach. Kohlheim spent last season as a head coach at Lake Erie.  

Rankings: Neither of these teams were ranked in the October 31 Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll.

Series History: The Falcons are 3-1 against the Lakers since joining the NCAA Division II ranks. Coach Lauren Macer won her first game as head coach of the Falcons against Mercyhurst in their last meeting in 2017 74-72 OT. With four seconds left in the overtime period, Katie Karalic scored the game-winning basket on a fast-break layup. Karalic led the team with seven steals in that game as Notre Dame totaled 24 steals, which remains an NDC single-game record during its NCAA history.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame is off to a hot start as they won both MEC-CIAA Conference Challenge games.  Seina Adachi is averaging 20.5 points thru the first two games shooting right around 48.8 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from behind the arc. Jessie Stout has been a force on the boards grabbing 24 through two games. The Falcons' bench has also gotten off to a hot start, scoring 30 or more points in both games this season. Through two games, Notre Dame's bench has outscored that of their opponents 66-24.

Noting the Lakers: Mercyhurst has been outscored by an average of 14.5 points this season, despite making a nearly equal number of field goal compared to its opponents (50-53, which includes an 8-9 difference in threes). Where the Lakers' opponents have taken advantage to earn that 14.5-point advantage has come from the charity stripe. In the first two games of 2019-20, Charleston and West Liberty combined for 62 free throw attempts and 49 makes compared to Merchyhurst's 37 and 28. Notre Dame may keep this trend moving forward as they have outscored teams 43-17 in free throw shooting so far this season.