West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's basketball team will play their first of two away contests in the final week of the regular season as they travel to Notre Dame for a Wednesday, February 28, match-up. The Hilltoppers and Falcons are slated for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off inside Murphy Gymnasium in South Euclid, Ohio.
 
GAME DETAILS

• Location: South Euclid, Ohio (Murphy Gymnasium)
• Tip-Off: 5:30 P.M.

WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Wednesday's game with a record of 9-17 (6-12 MEC) on the season following a 110-103 win at home over Concord on Saturday afternoon.
• The Hilltoppers are currently eighth place in the league standings.
• Through 26 games, WLU is averaging 77.0 points, 36.5 rebounds, 17.7 assists, 6.8 steals, and 3.3 blocks per game, while shooting the ball 41.4 percent from the field, 36.0 percent from 3-point range, and 72.2 percent from the free throw line.
• West Liberty ranks within the top-25 of NCAA Division II in seven statistical categories, ranking second in 3-pointers per game (10.7), fourth in 3-point attempts per game (29.8), ninth in assists per game (17.7), 11^th in scoring offense (77.0), 12^th in 3-point percentage (36.0%), 16^th in free throw attempts per game (21.62), and 20^th in free throws made per game (15.62).
• Corinne Thomas leads the Hilltoppers in scoring with 19.0 points per game, ranking third in the conference and 18^th nationally. Also, amongst the MEC's scoring leaders are Karly McCutcheon and Bailee Smith who are ninth and 13^th in the league with 14.4 and 13.3 points per game respectively. Rounding out the four players averaging double figures is Jenna Riccardo with a scoring average of 12.4.
• Riccardo and Thomas have been making their presence known over the last six games as they are each averaging 19.7 points per game in those contests. In those games Riccardo posted four 20-point games and a pair of double-doubles while Thomas has poured in 20 or more points in three games, including one 30-point outing. In their final home games of their careers against Concord they each scored a career-high with 25 and 34 points respectively. They have been just as effective on the glass, securing 8.8 and 7.2 rebounds per game.
• Thomas has 13 games of 20 or more points this season while McCutcheon adds five. Smith and Riccardo have posted four apiece.
• The trio of Thomas, McCutcheon, and Smith makes WLU a consistent threat to score from beyond the arc as Thomas leads DII with 3.54 3-pointers per game and is second nationally with 92 total 3-pointers. McCutcheon is fifth in the MEC in both categories with 65 total 3-pointers and 2.50 3-pointers per game, ranking 34^th and 36^th nationally. Smith is seventh in the conference with 54 total 3-pointers and is eighth with 2.08 3-pointers per game. It is the second consecutive season and the fourth time in the last seven seasons that three players have hit 50 or more 3-pointers during the year for WLU.
• Smith is second in the conference and ranks 32^nd in DII with a 3-point percentage of 39.1 percent while Thomas and McCutcheon are third and seventh in the league with shooting percentages of 37.7 and 34.4 percent from deep respectively.
• The Hilltoppers have recorded double digit 3-point field goal totals in 18 of their 26 games this season, including 13 or more made from beyond the arc in nine contests. WLU knocked down a season-high 17 shots from 3-point range in the win over Concord.
• Riccardo is eighth in the conference with 6.9 rebounds per game and is sixth in the league with 3.0 offensive rebounds per game. She has collected four double-digit rebounding performances on the year and has grabbed seven or more on 18 occasions. Thomas is second on the team with 6.2 rebounds per game.
• Thomas leads the team with five double-doubles on the season while Riccardo and McCutcheon add four and three respectively.
• Smith, Bailey Beckstedt, McCutcheon, and Thomas have all played pivotal roles in facilitating the Hilltopper offense. Smith leads the team with 3.8 assists per game, ranking fourth in the conference, while Beckstedt is seventh and up to an average of 3.4 per game after a career-high of nine assists against CU. Thomas and McCutcheon round out the group with 3.2 assists per game apiece, ranking eighth and ninth respectively as they have dished out 84 and 83 total on the year. Smith has dished out four or more assists in 14 games while Thomas, Beckstedt, and McCutcheon have done so in 12, ten, and nine games in 2023-24.
• Defensively, Thomas ranks 11^th in the league with 47 total steals and an average of 1.81 steals per game. She has tallied 14 multi-steal games on the year and notched a season-high of four on five different occasions.
• McCutcheon has been the rim protector for the Hilltoppers this season, ranking fourth in the MEC with 27 total blocked shots and 1.04 blocks per game. She posted a career-high of four blocks against the Mountain Lions and has notched a total of seven multi-block games this year.
• In his seventh season as the head coach at West Liberty, Kyle Cooper earned his 100^th career win in a home match-up against Davis & Elkins on February 7. He now holds a career record of 101-90 with the Hilltoppers.

NOTRE DAME STORYLINES

• Notre Dame enters Wednesday's game with a record of 8-18 (5-14) on the year following a 92-64 loss at (RV) Fairmont State on Saturday afternoon.
• The Falcons are currently tenth place in the league standings.
• Through 26 games, NDC is averaging 67.2 points, 35.4 rebounds, 12.0 assists, 8.2 steals, and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting the ball 40.3 percent from the field, 31.7 percent from 3-point range, and 65.9 percent from the free throw line.
• Notre Dame ranks within the top-25 of NCAA Division II in one statistical category, ranking 18^th in blocks per game (4.5).
• The Falcons are led by a pair of players who average double figures in scoring with Noel Weathers averaging a team-high 12.3 points while Kennadi Harris adds 10.1 points. Weathers has posted four games of 20 or more points while Karli Anker has two 20-point outings.
• Harris is the team's top 3-point shooter, ranking tenth in the MEC with 1.76 3-pointers per game and 44 total from beyond the arc in 2023-24. She is 44-of-115 for 38.3 percent from deep.
• Weathers leads the league with 8.8 rebounds per game and is fourth with an average of 3.1 offensive boards. She has collected double figure rebounds in ten contests this season, leading to seven double-doubles.
• Lilee Carlson is the facilitator of the Falcon offense, averaging 2.5 assists per game, and has recorded four or more assists in seven games this season.
• Carlson also leads the team on the defensive side of the ball with 1.3 steals per game as she has collected multiple steals on nine occasions.
• Weathers is one of the top rim protectors in the country, leading the MEC with 60 total blocked shots and 2.31 blocks per game while also ranking 11^th nationally in both categories. She has recorded three or more blocks in a game in 12 outings this year. She is joined among the league leaders by Carlson who is eighth in the conference with 23 total blocks and 0.88 blocks per game.
• Lauren Macer begins her second stint as the head coach at Notre Dame this season following a two year stretch as an assistant coach at Purdue-Fort Wayne. She holds a career record of 86-50 in her fifth season as the head coach of the Falcons.

SERIES HISTORY

• West Liberty took the lead in the all-time series, 12-11, with their fourth consecutive win over Notre Dame back in November.
• The Hilltoppers won the most recent match-up on November 21, 2023, as they earned an 84-75 win over the Falcons in the ASRC.
• Corinne Thomas, Karly McCutcheon, and Bailee Smith each scored a team-high 19 points in the win as the trio combined for ten 3-pointers in the game.