This Week: The Notre Dame College women's basketball team heads to Wesbanco Arena in Wheeling, WV for the annual Mountain East Conference Tournament. On Wednesday Mar. 6 at noon, NDC will take on Glenville State in the First Round.
 
Tournament Central: For more information on the MEC Tournament, click here.
 
Tickets: To buy tickets, click here.
 
MEC Tournament: The Falcons and Pioneers kick off the 2024 MEC Tournament with their first round matchup at noon on Wednesday, followed by West Liberty vs. West Virginia Wesleyan at 2:30 p.m. The quarterfinals begin on Thursday, with the winner of NDC/GSU to play No. 2 West Virginia State at noon. Next, No. 3 Frostburg State faces No. 6 Concord at 2:30 p.m., before No. 1 Fairmont State sees the winner of WLU/WVWC at 6 p.m. The nightcap will feature No. 4 Charleston against No. 5 Wheeling. On Saturday Mar. 9 both semifinal matchups will play before the MEC Championship takes place on Sunday Mar. 10 at 2 p.m. The winner of the MEC Tournament receives an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
 
Records: NDC enters the week at 10-18, including 6-14 inside the MEC to earn the No. 10 seed. GSU holds an 18-10 (11-9 MEC) mark, to be seated as the No. 7 seed.
 
Coaches Corner: Lauren Macer is back at the helm of the Notre Dame College women's basketball team in her second stint and fifth season as head coach. Macer, the 2019-20 MEC Coach of the Year, maintains an 87-49 career record. Emily Stoller is in her first season as head coach of Glenville State.
 
Rankings: Neither of these teams are ranked according to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) poll.
 
Series History: NDC is 3-22 all-time when facing Glenville State, dating back to their first meeting in 2013-14, and including their series split this season. Back on Nov. 29 in South Euclid, Ohio, GSU was ranked No. 19 in the country and defeated NDC 86-75, as Karli Anker flashed a team-high 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists. On Feb. 10 in Glenville, WV, the Falcons got their revenge and defeated the Pioneers for the first time since 2016, 94-86. Anker paced Notre Dame with 22 points on 12 made free throws in the game.
 
Noting the Falcons: Last week, Notre Dame rounded out the regular season with a pair of wins, as NDC has played above .500 (winning percentage) basketball since Jan. 27. On Wednesday, Noel Weathers generated a career-high 28 points and 16 rebounds in the win over West Liberty, 69-68. On Saturday, Nadia Jackson turned in a career-high 17 points in the senior day victory over Salem, 85-53.
 
Weathers, a Second Team All-MEC selection, has led Notre Dame College and the Mountain East Conference all season long in rebounds (9.1) and blocks (2.3), including ranking 12^th in the entire country in blocks per game. Furthermore, the Cincinnati, Ohio native fueled the Falcon offense as the leading scorer at 12.8 points per game, seated 15^th in the MEC. The Mt. Healthy High School product also boasts a team-high nine double-doubles (2^nd MEC), including each of her last two games.
 
Kennadi Harris (9.9), Anker (9.8) and Lilee Carlson (9.5) offer additional offensive support. Harris is the leading three-point shooter at 39.5-percent on 49 made threes. Anker has been a sparkplug for Notre Dame as of late, scoring in double figures in each of her last four games, including eight of the last 10 contests. Alongside scoring at an efficient 50.5-perecent clip, Carlson is the team's top facilitator ranking 14^th in the MEC at 73 assists, averaging 2.6 assists per game.
 
Cencere McDaniel (8.0) and Rachel Richardson (7.9), join the offensive attack as McDaniel gives the Falcons scoring off the bench, while Richardson is a combo guard who can score and facilitate when needed, totaling 53 assists (2^nd on the team).
 
As a team, Notre Dame averages 67.9 points on 40.6-percent shooting from the floor, 32.7-percent shooting from three and 65.5-percent shooting from the free throw line. The Falcons add 36.1 rebounds per game (-4.4 margin), 12.4 assists per game, 8.0 steals per game and 4.6 blocks per game. NDC ranks t-15^th in the entire country in blocks per game.
 
Noting the Pioneers: Last week, Glenville State fell during both of their contests, beginning with a 74-64 defeat to Charleston. Hya Haywood tallied a game-high 27 points and eight steals, but the Pioneers were outscored by 18 in the second half and out-rebound 39-15 for the entire game. On Saturday, GSU dropped the regular season finale to Concord 80-75, as Haywood poured in 29 points.
 
Haywood leads a high-scoring Glenville State offense at 17.7 points per game, ranking fourth in the MEC. She is joined by Lauren Calhoun (13.7) and Chalon Miles (11.5), who are seated 12^th and 23^rd in the league in scoring, respectively. GSU boasts seven players who have made at least 20 three-pointers on the year, led by Dream Cherry's team-high 62. Calhoun controls the paint for GSU with the 22^nd best field goal percentage in the nation at 54.9-percent.
 
Haywood (3.0), Miles (2.6) and Sanaiya Morris (2.3) are a trio of top-20 facilitators in the league for the Pioneers.
 
On the glass, Calhoun (7.3) and Zhordan Shannon (6.2) lead the team and rank fifth and 14^th in the MEC, respectively.
 
Defensively, Glenville State likes to speed their opponent up as the Pioneers lead the country at 17.7 steals per game. Haywood is the anchor at 3.5 steals per game, ranking first in the MEC and fifth in the country. Shannon (2.9) is second in the league, while Kamiyah Lyons is seventh (2.5).
 
As a team, Glenville State averages 86.1 points per game on 40.5-percent shooting from the floor, 29.0-percent shooting from three and 64.3-percent shooting from the free throw line. The Pioneers add 38.1 rebounds per game (-5.5 margin), 15.6 assists per game, 17.7 steals per game and 1.6 blocks per game. Amongst the NCAA Division II, GSU ranks first in steals and second in scoring.