This Week: Notre Dame starts Mountain East Conference play this weekend and will be traveling to Wheeling, WV, Saturday, November 23 for a 12 p.m. matchup against the Wheeling University Cardinals.

Next Week: On Tuesday, November 26, the Falcons take a trip to West Liberty for a 5:30 p.m. game against the Hilltoppers. 

Records: The Falcons are currently 4-0, and continuing the best start in their Division II history after defeating Malone University in a comeback victory on Wednesday. Wheeling is 1-2 following a loss against Pitt-Johnstown, and West Liberty is 3-1 after beating Winston-Salem State.

Coaches Corner: Lauren Macer is in her third season as head coach of the Falcons she holds a record of 42-23, 29-15 MEC. Mike Llanas enters his second season as head coach of Cardinals he holds a record of 5-26, 2-20 MEC. Kyle Cooper is in his 3rd season as the head coach of the Toppers he holds a record of 37-27, 29-15 MEC. 

Rankings: None of these teams were ranked in the November 18 Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll.

Series History: The Falcons are leading the series against Wheeling 8-5, winning both games last season by a combined margin of 27 points. The series against West Liberty is tied up at 7-7 and Notre Dame is looking to win its first game at WLU since 2016. NDC and the Hilltoppers have split their regular season games 2-2 since head coach Lauren Macer took over the program, but West Liberty was able to defeat the Falcons in the MEC Tournament last season to gain a one-game lead over the coach after her first two years.

Noting the Falcons: Leading Notre Dame over the past two seasons, head coach Lauren Macer has gotten her team off to a couple hot starts in MEC play. In the 2017-18 season, the Falcons began their Mountain East schedule with three wins before suffering their first conference loss. Last year, NDC lost its MEC opener at Concord, but went on to win its next four conference games, which included games against Wheeling and West Liberty. Earlier this week, NDC made a 15-point comeback on the road against Malone, going on two big runs in the third quarter to take things over late. During the game, Seina Adachi made both her free throw attempts to eclipse 200 career free throws. Adachi now has over 500 career field goals and 200 career free throws as a Falcon.
 
Noting the Cardinals: Before taking on one of the highest scoring team in West Liberty, Notre Dame will match up against one of the lowest scoring teams in the country. Wheeling currently has the 234th-ranked scoring offense in Division II with 60.7 points per game. Lilly Ritz leads the Cardinals with 12.7 points and 11.3 rebounds per game while no other player at Wheeling is averaging more than five rebounds per game. Comparatively, NDC has four players averaging over five rebounds per game.
  
Noting the Hilltoppers: West Liberty's Morgan Brunner has been a standout so far in the 2019-20 season. Brunner is third in Division II scoring with 29.5 points per game. The senior from Wheeling, W.Va. has made 22 three-point field goals this season, which leads all players in DII. Last season, despite only starting in two games, Brunner made 108 threes, which led the nation. Brunner made 18 three-pointers in three games against Notre Dame last season, including eight in the MEC Tourament. WLU ranks 25th in DII scoring as a team with 83.8 points per game behind the combo of Brunner and Taylor Johnson, who is averaging 20.3 ppg.