Locked in a four-way tie for eighth place in the Mountain East Conference standings, Fairmont State still has work to do to lock up a berth in the league tournament later this month. Veteran coach Steve McDonald's team enters Thursday's game at the Prior Center having won four of its last six games but, the Fighting Falcons were tripped up Saturday in a 69-54 home loss to Notre Dame College. Playing on the road has been an issue for Fairmont State, the youthful team, comprised of 11 freshmen and sophomores, has just one league road win. Defense has allowed the squad to hover around the .500 mark all season. The Fighting Falcons rank fourth in the conference in scoring defense (71.0 ppg) and third in field goal percentage defense (.396). Earlier this year, FSU posted a 74-66 win over UVa-Wise in Fairmont behind a 23-point outburst from freshman guard Sierra Kotchman. The 5-foot-6 native of Washington, Pa. leads the Fighting Falcons in scoring at 18.9 points per game while also leading the team and ranking fourth in the league in free throw percentage (.910).

Fresh off a season-series sweep of Wheeling Jesuit and its first road win of the season, UVa-Wise will look to keep its tournament hopes alive Thursday when the team kicks off a four-game home stand. Currently, the Cavaliers sit three games back of the final tournament berth with six games to play. In the win over the Cardinals, sophomore Cynita Webb scored the game-winning basket at the buzzer as she tallied 15 points and 13 rebounds to record her eighth double-double of the year. Freshman Nokomis Williams made her first collegiate start in the win and poured in a season-high nine points on 4-of-5 shooting. Redshirt freshman Kalee Johnson also had a solid performance as she matched her season-high with 13 points. UVa-Wise has seen improvement in its turnover number recently. The Cavs had their lowest turnover output of the season last Thursday at West Liberty (7) before turning it over just 16 times at Wheeling Jesuit. UVa-Wise is averaging 21.1 turnovers per game.