This week: The Notre Dame College women's basketball team will play on the road against Concord University on Wednesday Jan. 26 at 5:30 p.m. Next, NDC will then return home and play on Saturday Jan. 29 at 2:00 p.m. against Glenville State College. The Falcons will wrap up their busy week on Monday Jan. 31 when NDC travels down to Fairmont State University for a 6:00 p.m. tip-off. NDC and FSU are playing a contest that was postponed and originally scheduled for Jan. 5.

Spectator Reminder: No spectators will be allowed to enter Murphy Gymnasium on Saturday.
 
Records: NDC is currently 7-9 (6-5 MEC) and in seventh place in the Mountain East Conference. CU sits at 12-6 (7-5 MEC) and in fifth place in the MEC. GSC is riding an unbeaten 16-0 (11-0 MEC) record into the week, as they are atop the MEC. FSU has pieced together a 10-5 (8-2 MEC) record and are in second place in the MEC.
 
Coaches Corner: Imani Gordon is the head coach of Notre Dame College in her first season. Gordon has been a member of the NDC women's basketball program as an assistant since the 2017-18 season. Kenny Osborne is in his 22^nd season as the head coach of Concord University and holds a 298-308 record. Kim Stevens is in her sixth season with Glenville State and holds a 123-20 record. Stephanie Anderson leads the Fairmont State program in her third season.
 
Rankings: Glenville State clocks in at No. 1 in the country in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Poll with 19 of 23 first place votes. Saturday will mark the first time that Notre Dame has played the top team in the nation since Nov. 14, 2017 against Ashland. 
 
Series History: Notre Dame is 14-2 all-time against Concord dating back to their first meeting in 2013-14, and including NDC's 82-78 double overtime win over CU back on Dec. 4. Notre Dame is 2-17 all-time against GSC since 2013-14, and including NDC's 116-51 loss to GSC back on Dec. 1. Lastly, Notre Dame is 10-6 when playing Fairmont State all-time, dating back to 2013-14.
 
Noting the NDC Falcons: Last week, Notre Dame fell on Wednesday at home to Wheeling, 72-66. Leading the offense was Lilee Carlson with 17, Alana Ellis with 15, Amil Ali-Shakir with 13 and Jen Oduho with 11. Tamia Ridley snagged a game-high 13 rebounds and a team-high three assists. On Saturday, NDC traveled down to Alderson Broaddus and dropped 89-65. For the Falcons, Ali-Shakir scored a career-high 17 points, followed by Carlson's ten. Ridley added nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds, as Carlson dished out a career-high and team-high seven assists.
 
On the season, Ellis has paced the Notre Dame offense at 15.9 points per game (ppg), followed by Oduho with 13.7 ppg and Carlson at 10.9 ppg. Ridley checks in at 9.0 ppg, while grabbing 12.5 rebounds per game.
 
Stacking up against the MEC, Ellis ranks seventh in scoring (15.9 ppg), while Oduho is tied for 12^th (13.7 ppg) in scoring and fourth in free throw percentage (86.2%). Ridley posts the top rebounding mark in the conference (12.5 rpg), while Carlson is tied for eighth in assists per game (3.0). Moreover, Ridley claims the seventh best rebounding average across all of NCAA Division II.
 
In terms of the team, Notre Dame is averaging 66.5 ppg and allowing 74.2 ppg, both marks are eighth in the conference. In addition, NDC is shooting 37.8% from the field and 31.2% from three-point land, the eighth and fifth best marks respectively. The Falcons grab 38.8 rpg (8^th MEC) and post the fifth best turnover margin at -1.1 per game.
 
Noting the Mountain Lions: Last week, Concord lost on Wednesday to Charleston, 81-67. CU's Riley Fitzwater scored a game-high 17 points and nine rebounds during the loss. The Mountain Lions featured three other scorers in double figures with Alexis Phillips posting 14, Maggie Guynn with 13 and Maddie Ratcliff with ten. On Saturday, the Mountain Lions fell to the GSC Pioneers 105-67. Ratcliff paced the Concord offense on this occasion with 15 points, followed by Fitzwater's 14-point and 11-rebound double-double.
 
For the season, Fitzwater is the clear leader of this CU team as the team's leading scorer (15.8 ppg) and leading rebounder (12.2 rpg). The graduate student is eighth in the MEC in scoring, second in rebounding, first in field goal percentage (70.9%) and first in all of NCAA Division II in blocks per game (3.6 bpg).
 
In addition, Guynn is the only other Mountain Lion to average double figures at 10.6 ppg. Jazz Blankenship, (9.9 ppg), Ratcliff (9.5 ppg) and Jaisah Smith (9.4 ppg) all check in just south of 10.0 ppg.
 
On the season, Concord is sixth (in the MEC) in scoring as a team (72.4 ppg) and tied for third in scoring defense by only allowing 68.4 ppg. CU is third in field goal percentage (45.0%) and tied for sixth in three-point percentage (31.2%). The Mountain Lions grab the seventh most rebounds (38.9 rpg) and are eighth in the conference in turnover margin at -3.8.
 
Noting the Pioneers: Glenville State enters this week on a 16-game win streak, and have not lost since the NCAA Tournament in March of 2021. The Pioneers enter this week after going 2-0 last week with wins over West Virginia State and Concord. On Wednesday, the Pioneers hosted the Yellow Jackets and won 97-77. Zakiyah Winfield led all scorers with 22 points on 8-12 shooting from the floor. Re'Shawna Stone added 17, Vendela Danielsson scored 12 and Abby Stoller contributed ten. On Saturday, the Pioneers traveled to Concord and won 105-67, the sixth time they have eclipsed 100 points scored in a game this season. Winfield again paced all scorers with 20 points on 8-11 shooting from the floor. Three other Pioneers finished in double figures including Danielsson's 16, Stoller's 15 and Mashayla Cecil's 14. GSC forced CU into 24 turnovers compared to their nine, while corralling 42 rebounds to the Mountain Lions 32.
 
On the season, Stone and Winfield are a scary one-two scoring combo at 18.0 ppg and 17.9 ppg respectively. The two Pioneers clock in at two and three in the conference in scoring this season, and are each top 50 in NCAA Division II in points per game. Winfield also boasts the third best field goal percentage in the MEC at 59.1%, while Stone is sixth at 52.3%.
 
As a team, GSC scores 101.0 ppg which 14.4 ppg higher than any other team across all of NCAA Division II, and is the top mark at any level of NCAA women's college basketball. Moreover, the Pioneers allow just 62.7 ppg, the best mark in the Mountain East. In addition, they boast the highest scoring margin in the country at +38.3, nearly 17 more than the next best team. The Pioneers are shooting 47.6% from the field which is first in the conference and 34.6% from three which is third. Glenville State is the top rebounding team in the conference with 45.9 rpg (4^th amongst NCAA Division II) and post the top turnover margin at +14.6 (best amongst NCAA Division II).
 
Noting the FSU Falcons: Fairmont State is entering the week after wins over Davis & Elkins and Frostburg State. On Wednesday, FSU beat D&E 68-59 at home. Kamrin Weimer led the team and tied for the game-high 17 points on 5-7 shooting from three-point land. Sierra Kotchman (14) and Alyssa DeAngelo (10) were the other two Falcons in double figures. On Saturday, FSU took care of Frostburg State 96-77 at home. DeAngelo paced the Falcons on offense with 26 points on 9-12 shooting from the floor. Four other FSU Falcons scored double figures including, Kotchman with 18 (4-6 from three), Katy Darnell with 14, Weimer with 11 and Jalen Gibbs with ten.
 
On the season, DeAngelo has led this FSU team with 17.5 ppg, followed by Kotchman with 16.7 ppg, Gibbs at 10.0 ppg, and Darnell as the top rebounding threat at 9.7 ppg and 7.3 rpg. In comparison to the MEC, DeAngelo is the conference's fourth leading scorer, while Kotchmann is sixth. DeAngelo is also second in free throw percentage (88.5%), as Weimer is a threat from behind the arc, leading the conference and being third nationally in three-point percentage (48.8%). Furthermore, Kotchmann (2.9) and Weimer (2.6) are second and fourth in the Mountain East in three-point field goals per game.
 
As a team, Fairmont State scores the second most points in the conference and the third most nationally at 84.3 ppg. The Falcons shoot 44.2% from the field and 37.0% from three, the third and first best marks in the conference and cracking the top 15 for three-point percentage. In terms of rebounding, FSU is dead last in the MEC at 33.1 rpg, but show the second-best turnover margin at +5.6 per game.