Storylines – vs Fairmont State
Having won three of its last four games, Steve McDonald's team is back in the race for a bye in the upcoming MEC Tournament. Currently, Fairmont State sits in eighth place but just one game back of UVa-Wise and Shepherd who are tied for sixth and the final bye in the tournament. In its first meeting against the Cavaliers this season, the Fighting Falcons led for the majority of the first half before a full-court press by UVa-Wise posed issues.  FSU turned the ball over 10 times in the final 20 minutes of play as a 38-29 halftime lead quickly evaporated and resulted in a 76-61 defeat. Sierra Kotchman and Rachel Laskody led the way for McDonald's squad with 15 points each while Kamrin Weimer tossed in10. Depth could play a factor in the game, FSU essentially plays six players with all six averaging at least 18.7 minutes per game. Kotchman's 36.8 minutes per night leads the league and ranks sixth among all NCAA Division II players. A FSU loss would make a pathway to a MEC Tournament bye seemingly impossible while a win would give the Fighting Falcons three straight wins and at worse a seventh place tie with five games to play.
About UVa-Wise
Having most recently completed the biggest fourth quarter comeback in school history, UVa-Wise enters the final six regular season games in a position few would have predicted in October. Tied for sixth place in the league standings, UVa-Wise can go go up two games on FSU while also holding the tiebreaker on the Fighting Falcons for seventh place with a win Thursday. Picked last in the Preseason Coaches' Poll, it has been the play of forwards Cynita Webb and Ada Stanley that has sparked a resurgence under first-year coach Jamie Cluesman. Webb is second in the league in fifth nationally in offensive rebounding at 4.9 a night while her 13 double-doubles ranks third in the league and 13th nationally. Stanley has been a force off the bench for the Cavaliers, the sophomore netted 14 points in the fourth quarter in a 65-59 win over Wheeling Jesuit to finish with a game-high 23 as she posted her fifth 20 point game of the season and third in a row. On the season, Stanley is shooting 58 percent from the floor.