This Week: The Notre Dame College women's basketball team will defend Murphy Gymnasium on Wednesday Feb. 15 at 5:30 p.m. against the University of Charleston. Next, NDC will hit the road and travel to West Virginia State University on Saturday Feb. 18 at 2 p.m.
 
Records: NDC begins the week at 6-18 (5-13 MEC) and tied for eighth place in the Mountain East Conference. UC sits at 19-5 (14-4 MEC), and WVSU is 19-4 (14-4 MEC), as both programs are tied for second place in the MEC.
 
Coaches Corner: Imani Gordon is in her second season as the head coach of Notre Dame College, holding a career record of 21-32. Tianni Kelly is in her third season with Charleston, maintaining a 42-12 career record. Lastly, Charles Marshall is in his sixth season with WV State.
 
Rankings: WV State is currently receiving votes to be ranked in the top 25 in the nation, according to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Poll.
 
Series History: NDC is 11-10 all-time against the Charleston, dating back to their first meeting in 2013-14, and including the Golden Eagles 82-46 victory back on Jan. 14. The Falcons are 13-6 all-time when playing the WVSU, dating back to their first meeting in 2013-14 and including WV State's 93-69 vicotry back on Jan. 11.
 
Noting the Falcons: Last week, Notre Dame went 0-2, beginning with an 85-59 defeat at Fairmont State. On Saturday, NDC returned home before falling 88-75 to Frostburg State. Freshman Noel Weathers has been on fire lately, registering her third double-double of the season on Wednesday, before posting a team-high and career-high 20 points on Saturday.
 
The Falcons have been led by redshirt sophomore Alana Ellis who checks in ranked 11^th in the MEC at 15.6 points per game. She paces NDC in field goals made (118) and attempted (325).
 
She is joined by a pair of double-digit scorers in freshman Noel Weathers (11.0) and senior Marina Adachi (10.5). Weathers posts the top field goal percentage of the team at 49.2 percent, while Adachi is the team's top shooter at 39.0 percent from beyond the arc and 92.1 percent from the free throw line.
 
On the glass, Weathers tallies 6.7 rebounds per game, ranking 14^th in the MEC.
 
Junior Lizzie Imrie adds 7.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, while leading the squad in assists (45). Imrie ranks 22^nd in rebounding and 23^rd in assists in the MEC.
 
As a team, Notre Dame averages 62.8 ppg on 38.0 percent shooting from the floor, 29.5 percent shooting from three and 68.7 percent shooting from the free throw line. The Falcons register 32.0 rebounds per game (-9.6 margin), 10.4 assists per game, 8.3 steals per game and 2.7 blocks per game.
 
Noting the Golden Eagles: Last week, Charleston picked up a pair of victories, beginning with a 60-50 win at WV Wesleyan, as Trinity Palacio was the UC leading scorer (21). On Saturday, Charleston came from behind to beat Davis & Elkins, 72-68 at home. Dakota Reeves generated 25 points on 8-16 from beyond the three-point land.
 
The Golden Eagles boast three top 20 scorers in the conference, led by Palacio's 16.3 ppg, ranking nint in the league. Palacio leads the team in field goals made (144) and attempted (336), free throws made (82) and attempted (99), along with being third in assist to turnover ratio (1.9) and fourth in total assists (89) in the MEC.
 
She is joined by Markyia McCormick's 12.6 ppg, and Reeves 12.2 ppg, ranking 17^th and 20^th in the MEC.
 
Reeves poses a significant threat from downtown, with 79 of 173 from beyond the arc (45.7%). Reeves leads the Mountain East in three-point percentage and three-pointers made per game (3.3). In addition, Reeves is fourth in the nation in three-pointers per game, while being eighth in three-point percentage. Lastly, Reeves leads the team in rebounding at 5.5 rpg, 20^th in the MEC.
 
As a unit, Charleston averages 72.9 ppg, on 42.5 percent shooting from the floor, 36.6 percent shooting from the free throw line and 72.6 percent shooting from the charity stripe. The Golden Eagles add 37.3 rpg (+2.9 margin), 11.9 apg, 8.0 spg and 2.5 bpg. UC ranks 13^th in the country in three-point percentage.
 
Noting the Yellow Jackets: Last week, West Virginia State dismantled Davis & Elkins (124-77) and WV Wesleyan (112-58). Destiney Fields led the team with 26 points on Wednesday, while Shelby Harmeyer stepped up on Saturday with 23 points.
 
Fields leads a potent and balanced WV State offense, at 14.2 pgg (14^th MEC) and 7.1 rpg (t-10^th MEC), posting a team-high 114 made field goals.
 
Anysa Jordan (12.6) and Harmeyer (11.3) join the scoring attack for the Yellow Jackets. Jordan leads the team in field goals attempted (244), while also securing 7.1 rpg.
 
Outside of scoring, Emyah Fortenberry is fourth in the MEC in rebounds, while Hannah Shriver leads the league in assists per game (5.2) and assist to turnover ratio (2.0). Shirver is 15^th in the country in assists per game.
 
As a team, WV State averages 91.7 ppg on 38.7 percent shooting from the floor, 32.7 percent shooting from three and 73.3 percent shooting from the free throw line. The Yellow Jackets add 52.7 rpg (+7.9 margin), 18.0 apg, 15.4 spg and 3.7 bpg. In the country, WV State ranks first in scoring offense, first in rebounding, second in three-point attempts per game (32.7), third in steals per game, fifth in assists per game, seventh in three-pointers made per game (9.4), 12^th in scoring margin (+16.1) and 13^th in rebounding margin.