The No. 10 ranked team in the initial Atlantic Region Poll, Notre Dame College enters Thursday's game at UVa-Wise in need of victories to improve its chances of an at large bid to this year's NCAA Tournament. First-year Head Coach Lauren Macer's squad is led by the duo of Seina Adachi and Kim Cook. Adachi leads the team at 15.8 points per game while Cook pours in 14 points a contest. Meanwhile, Cook leads the team with 8.7 rebounds per game and a .521 field goal percentage. In Notre Dame's 90-68 win over UVa-Wise earlier this season, Cook made a trio of 3-point baskets en route to 11 points in just 14 minutes of action. One of the more prolific 3-point shooting teams in the league, Notre Dame makes 8.8 3-pointers per game while shooting .439 percent from the field. A Falcons' win would lock up the No. 2 seed in the league tournament.

Winners of back-to-back games and three of the last four, UVa-Wise stands two games out of the final MEC Tournament berth with three games to play. Elise Clyburn's team must win out and receive help to advance to Charleston later this month. That dream nearly ended Thursday as UVa-Wise found itself down 44-29 after three periods of play before a late surge propelled the team to a 67-62 overtime win over Urbana. Sophomore Cynita Webb poured in 17 points and 17 rebounds to move her season averages to 11.4 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. The Virginia Beach, Va. product has now tallied 11 double-doubles this season while having scored in double figures in six consecutive games. Junior guard Adalmaryz Rivera-Gomez is also playing her best ball down the stretch. The 5-foot-6 native of Bayamon, Puerto Rico dished out seven assists in Thursday's win while adding six points and five rebounds to her stat line. The play of Rivera-Gomez and freshman Bianca Lockamy have been crucial to the team's late season success. Behind the play of the guards, UVa-Wise committed just 13 turnovers Thursday. It marked the fifth consecutive game the team has turned the ball over less than 20 times. On the season, the Cavs are averaging 20.1 turnovers per contest.