It's been a good news/bad news week for the Concord Women's Basketball.
The Lady Lions got some decidedly bad news when they learned senior forward Sierra Brown would be out for the rest of the season.
But Concord got some good news with the return of guard Anna Truckley to the lineup after a wrist injury had her status in doubt.
The Lady Lions got mixed news regarding their schedule. The nasty winter plaguing West Virginia has abated enough for CU to finally play again – Friday's game was the first in eight days – but all the weather-related postponements will require Concord to play nine games in sixteen days to close out the regular season.
“That's OK,” said Concord head coach Kenny Osborne. “They'd rather play a game than practice anyway.”
There was undisputedly good news on the court Friday afternoon. The Lady Lions overhauled Alderson-Broaddus with a clutch late rally to claim a 68-54 victory over the Lady Battlers at the Carter Center.
The victory snapped Concord's five-game losing streak and refueled their hopes for a top-eight finish in the WVIAC.
Playing without Brown, starting forward Sidney Lindsey (ankle) and key reserve forward Meghan Cole (knee), the Lady Lions slowed the tempo in a contest that proved to be tense and close until the end. CU opened up a 25-19 lead late in the first half, but led just 30-29 at halftime.
A-B scored the first four points of the second half to move ahead, and would lead 48-45 after a three-pointer from Alese Davis with 11:12 to go.
But after that, Concord wouldn't allow A-B to score for 10:40.
Then the offense came alive.
The Lady Lions reeled off 17 unanswered points -- seven from Jolysa Brown -- to take command. When freshman Haley Smith went in for a breakaway layup with :35 left the Mountain Lions went up 62-48 and erased any doubt over the outcome.
Camisha Alexander led Concord's scoring for the second-straight game, finishing with a game-high 23 points. The sophomore from Beckley was 7-12 from the field and 4-6 from three-point range.
Brown just missed a double-double, with 22 points and eight rebounds. She was 8-13 from the floor, with many of her points coming on tough inside shots, and was 6-8 from the free throw line.
Tori Charley topped A-B with 19 points and eight rebounds. Davis finished with 12 points on 4-6 three-point shooting, after coming into the game at .196 from the arc over the Lady Battlers' first 19 games.
BOXSCORE: www.wviac.org/custompages/wbball/10wbkbHTML/cu212.htm
Concord gets no time to celebrate Friday's victory. The Lady Lions return to the Carter Center to host Davis & Elkins in a key WVIAC game Saturday afternoon at 2:00 pm EST.
The game will be broadcast on Classic Rock 102 The River (WMTD 102.3 FM) and webcast at www.theriver102.com.
