West Virginia's most recent upset came against No. 20 Louisville last weekend. They will try to repeat that action against No. 2 Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., Saturday.
The Fighting Irish are the Mountaineers' toughest test to date, as they have only one loss this season, which came against No. 1 Baylor back in November.
"Notre Dame is a great team," said West Virginia head coach Mike Carey. "Probably them and Baylor are the top two teams in the country."
This is true.
Notre Dame has a high-powered offense that is efficient and well-coached.
The Irish are No. 1 in the nation in scoring offense at 83.6 points per game. West Virginia will have its hands full on defense, but also shows discipline of its own, as it has the No. 4 scoring defense in the country, allowing an average of just 49.2 points per game.
Notre Dame also boasts one of the most experienced lineups in the country, with four players averaging 12 or more points per game.
The No. 2 team in the nation is led by junior point guard Skylar Diggins. The 2011 third-team all-American averages 16.5 points per game, first on the team. She also averages three rebounds per game and shoots 37.5 percent from 3-point range. Diggins also leads the team, by far, with 146 assists on the year. She ranks No. 14 in the nation at six per game.
Diggins is one of the most versatile and athletic playmakers in the country, and she is hard to stop when she gets in a flow.
However, the junior guard is not the only weapon Notre Dame has at its disposal. Senior guard Natalie Novosel is averaging 14.9 points per game, while senior forward Devereaux Peters leads the team with 8.6 rebounds, while scoring 12.3 points per game.
Notre Dame made it to the final four last season and knows what it takes to win big league games like the one coming this Saturday.
Carey made it clear that his team is going to go on the road and compete as hard as possible.
"We're not going down there to lose," Carey said. "We're going to go down there and try to win the game. Win or lose, we have to compete."
According to Carey, his team is going to learn a lot from this game, and it will help the players to make progress as the end of the regular season nears.
West Virginia has been clicking on all cylinders over the past few games. They know it has to continue Saturday for the team to stay competitive.
Junior forwards Asya Bussie and Ayana Dunning have had strong games during West Virginia's three-game win streak and will need to dominate the inside post.
Bussie is averaging 10 points per game over the last three games, while Dunning is averaging 9.3.
The Mountaineer guards are going to have to get those two the ball and run screen plays for them to get to the basket against the Irish.
"Are they a great team, a veteran team – absolutely," Carey said of Notre Dame. "They're one of the top two teams in the country without a doubt. They're like a machine offensively and they're aggressive and they can play. They press and they're strong; they can run. So we'll have our hands full."
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