NORFOLK, Va. --  Bethune-Cookman begins a pivotal weekend of Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play Saturday when the Lady Wildcats meet Norfolk State at 4 p.m. in Echols Hall, then on Monday face Hampton in a rematch of the 2017 MEAC tournament championship.

Plain and simply, Saturday is a first-place battle between two undefeated teams in league play -- Bethune-Cookman is 13-4 overall and 5-0 in league play, while Norfolk State is 11-5 and 4-0. Hampton (7-10,3-1) is currently fourth in the league standings.

Last year, the Lady Wildcats swept the season series, taking a 68-58 decision here in Norfolk State and a 53-44 win in Daytona Beach that clinched the MEAC regular season championship.

Bethune-Cookman has won the last three meetings and nine of the last 13.

Against Hampton,  the Lady Wildcats won the regular season matchup 66-56 before dropping that 52-49 decision in the MEAC championship game that was B-CU's first appearance since 1992.

Bethune-Cookman's overall record marks its best record after 17 games since the 1984-85 team was 15-2. This is the second straight 5-0 start in MEAC play. Day: B-CU has been 13-4 or better after 17 games five times and has finished the season with 20 wins in four of them. The other time, B-CU only played 19 games in 1981-82.

THE STREAKS:
15 consecutive MEAC regular season wins
 12 consecutive MEAC regular season road wins
 138 consecutive games with at least one 3FG

STATS AND STUFF: Angel Golden is now fifth on the B-CU All-Time 3FG list (114) and Emily Williams is 9th in 3FG (73) and 10th in assists (183) … The Lady Wildcats lead the MEAC in scoring defense (57.6 ppg)… 3FG% (35.8) and 3FG% defense (28.8) and assists (14.7)…Golden is seventh in the league in scoring (13.8) while Ashanti Hunt is fourth in rebounding (8.0) and third in assists (3.8)….Chasimmie Brown is seventh in FG% (44.6) while Williams is sixth in assists (3.2).

ABOUT NSU: The Spartans' nine-game winning streak is the longest in the program's D1 history…Kayla Roberts is second in the league in scoring (13.8) ppg) while Alexys Long is shooting a MEAC best 49.2 percent from 3FG…Khadedra Croker is averaging 3.4 blocks per game.

ABOUT HAMPTON: The Pirates suffered their first loss in MEAC at South Carolina State Monday… Monnaz Finney-Smith's 12.2 ppg leads three Hampton players averaging double figures.

COVERAGE: Follow our official twitter feeds -- @BCUWBB and @BCUathletics -- for in-game updates and links to live stats and webcasts.