This Week: Notre Dame College travels to West Virginia State this weekend for a conference crossover event against two teams from the CIAA. The Falcons will be playing Winston-Salem State University on Saturday, November 9, at 6 p.m. before playing Livingstone College on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Records: All three teams will be starting their season this weekend. Last year Notre Dame was 15-14 while Winston-Salem State was 15-13 and Livingstone was 10-20.

Coaches Corner: Lauren Macer is in her third season as the head coach of the NDC women's basketball program. She holds a record of 38-23, 29-15 MEC. L'Tonya Lamonte is entering her first year as the head coach of the Rams. Chiante Wester will also be coaching her first game as the Blue Bears head coach.

Rankings: None of these teams were ranked in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll released October 31.

Series History: The Falcons have yet to play either team in this weekend's tournament.

Noting the Falcons: Coming off of a 15-14 (12-10 MEC) record last season, Notre Dame women's basketball looks to keep improving under coach Macer. All six players who started at least 13 games return and nine of the ten players who saw action in at least 26 games last season, also return. Standout player Seina Adachi (17.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.5 apg last season) returns for her senior year after earning First Team All-MEC honors the past two years. Heading into the 2019-20 season with 1,317 points, Adachi looks to become just the third player in program history to eclipse 1,500 points (Martha Nagbe, Amanda Blazetic). Both Adachi (149) and Kyleigh Ramlow (141) enter this weekend's lineup with nearly 150 three-point field goals made throughout their careers. Only three other players at NDC have reached that mark (Kristi Wendelowski, Ashley Carney and Nagbe). Jessie Stout also has an opportunity to cement her presence in the NDC record books. Stout currently ranks eight in rebounding average (6.1) and fifth in blocked shots average (0.7). She will likely climb the charts if last year was any indication; Stout averaged 8.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks last season.  

Noting the Rams: Winston-Salem State has not had much luck in recent memory at the start of the season. The Rams have not won a season-opening game in the last four years. The last time WSSU won its first game of the season was November 15, 2014 against Urbana in a close 57-52 contest. Winston-Salem State returns its leading scorer from a year ago in sophomore Amaya Tucker, who averaged 16.0 points per game as a freshman. The Rams do take a significant loss after losing Brionna Pate, the team's second-leading scorer (14.8 ppg) and top rebounder (11.3 rpg). WSSU lost both its top rebounders as Kyree Hall is the leading returner in the category with just 4.9 rebounds per game last season.

Noting the Blue Bears: After three-straight winning seasons, including a 26-2 record in 2014-15, Livingstone has won just 28 percent of its games in the last two years. With new head coach Chiante Wester, the Blue Bears are looking to turn things around. The tide turning may be close with all three of the team's leading scorers from a year ago back. Daisa Harris (All-CIAA in 18-19) led the her team in nearly all major categories with 21.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.6 steals last season. She is joined by Imani Payne (13.1) and Adel Allen (10.7) as the other two players who averaged double-digit scoring. Livingstone will need these three returners to contribute majorly after losing 10 of its 14 athletes who saw playing time last season.