This Week: Notre Dame College is looking to stay hot as the Falcons host West Virginia State tonight, January 15, at 5:30 p.m. before traveling to Charleston on Saturday, January 18, for a 2 p.m. tip.   

Records: The Falcons continued their winning ways last week with victories against Frostburg State and Fairmont State to improve to 13-1 (7-1 MEC). West Virginia State also won both its games last week against Davis & Elkins and West Virginia Wesleyan. The Yellow Jackets are now 6-8 (4-4 MEC). Joining Notre Dame on a hot streak is Charleston, who has now won nine-straight contests to move to 12-2 (7-1 MEC).

Coaches Corner: Lauren Macer is in her third season as head coach of the Falcons. She holds a record of 51-24, 36-16 MEC. Charles Marshall is in his fourth season at the helm of the West Virginia State program. Marshall has amassed a 42-61 (35-39 MEC) record at WVSU. Becky Burke is in her second season at Charleston after a solid first year with the Golden Eagles. Like Macer in her first year, Burke led her team to an MEC Championship appearance, but ultimately lost to Glenville State. The loss did not halt UC's season, however, as Charleston earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament, losing in the first round to Cal (Pa.). Burke is 37-9 (25-5 MEC) in her time at UC.

Rankings: None of these teams were ranked in the January 14 Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll, but Notre Dame earned votes for the second week in a row, totaling 23 points this week to fall just seven spots outside of the rankings.

Series History: The Falcons hold winning records against both West Virginia State and Charleston since joining the Division II ranks in 2012. NDC is 9-4 against the Yellow Jackets and 8-6 against UC. Notre Dame is currently on a six-game winning streak against WVSU, and head coach Lauren Macer is 4-0 in these match ups. Notre Dame lost both its contests with Charleston last season, but if history is any indication, the Falcons are due to bounce back. NDC has never lost to the Golden Eagles three times in a row. When the series started in the 2013-14 season, Notre Dame lost the first two games before going on a four-game win streak. NDC the lost the next two games before another four-straight went in its favor. The Falcons hope to keep the pattern going after two losses to build another group of victories.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame and Charleston are currently tied at the top of the MEC standings with 7-1 conference records. As the Falcons go on the road, they take with them a 7-0 away record to compete with UC's 7-0 home record. The teams' strengths will battle on Saturday as Charleston and Notre Dame rank first and second, respectively, in scoring defense in the Mountain East. Neither team has been a juggernaut on the offensive end as UC is seventh in scoring and NDC is eighth. But if Notre Dame can keep up its defensive play, there is a good chance to leave the West Virginia capital with a win. Both of UC's losses this season came when the Golden Eagles were held at or under 60 points. So far this season, Notre Dame has held opponents under 60 six times, already double the times they were able to do it in 2018-19. As for Charleston's defense, who holds teams to an average of 60.6 points per game, it will have work to do. Notre Dame may not be at the top of the league in scoring, but the Falcons have scored 70 or more points in all their games, having a season-low of just 67.
 
Noting the Yellow Jackets: Unlike Notre Dame and Charleston, West Virginia State has been an offensive power this season, averaging 90.6 points per game, which ranks third among all schools in Division II. But the Falcons have already faced three teams in the top 10 in NCAA DII scoring, and come ahead twice. Most recently, NDC played Fairmont State, who is currently eighth in the nation in scoring. Notre Dame held FSU to just 55 points, winning by a margin of 19. But the Falcons' lone loss came against one of the other two programs averaging over 90 points in Glenville State (who ranks first with 106.9 ppg). The Yellow Jackets boast four players who average over 10 points per game, the their most potent shooter is Charity Shears. Shears is coming off an MEC-record-breaking performance of 12 threes in a game against West Virginia Wesleyan. Shears averaged 19.6 points per game and has made a Division II high 64 threes. Notre Dame also has experience against top level shooters, having played against three of the top 10 three-point shooters already this season. On the NCAA Division II Three-Point Field Goals made list, the Falcons have competed against No. 2 Morgan Brunner (West Liberty), No. 6 Sierra Kotchman (Fairmont State) and No. 8 Emily Stoller (Glenville State). The three have combined for 164 three-point field goal makes this season, but against NDC, the trio was only able to make a combined six.
 
Noting the Golden Eagles: While Charleston's 2018-19 standout was a one-year transfer (Raziyah Farrington), the Golden Eagles top player this season is home grown. Six-foot-two forward Anna Hayton has steadily improved in her four years at UC to now be averaging 20.1 points per game. Hayton averaged double-digit scoring in both her sophomore (10.0) and junior (13.9) seasons. The senior forward's presence inside is balanced with freshman guard Dakota Reeves shooting abilities. Reeves is the main outside threat for UC, making almost 44 percent of her shots from beyond the arc this season. NDC will have to maintain solid play on defense both in the paint, and from distance to stay undefeated on the road.