Box Score ATHENS, W. Va. – Playing in her first game in nearly two months, junior forward
Andrea Bertrand recorded scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the Concord University women's basketball team's 81-69 loss to Charleston Thursday night at the Carter Center.
The loss drops Concord's record to 3-8 overall and 2-3 in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Charleston improves to 6-4 overall and 3-4 in the WVIAC with the win.
Bertrand, who also passed out a team-high four assists, shot 12-for-25 from the floor and 6-for-7 from the foul line. She did most of her work in the interior, racking up 18 points in the paint. After scoring eight points and shooting just 3-for-8 from the field in the first half, Bertrand found her stride in the second periord by going 9-for-17 from the field and finishing the half with 22 points.
Junior guard
Amanda Smith added 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 30 minutes of play while senior guard
Katy Somerville chipped in six points. The trio of sophomore guard Stephanie Wagner, senior guard
Tanisha Williams and freshman guard
Leslie Mack scored five points each. Williams made a game-best four steals and Wagner also collected six rebounds.
As a team, Concord had its second-best shooting day of the season, finishing with a field goal percentage of 41.5 percent (27-for-65) as a unit. The Mountain Lions outgained UC in points off of turnovers (13-12), second chance points (13-10) and points in the paint (28-20), but trailed Charleston in shooting (50 percent – 41.5 percent), rebounding (38-36), assists (17-15) and steals (13-12). As has been the case all season, Concord once again forced its opponents into more turnovers (21) than the Maroon and Gray committed (18).
Concord battled out to a four-point lead at 16-12 through the opening 6:15 of the game behind an early offensive attack that saw six players account for the early point total. However, a 14-7 run over the following 3:23 gave Charleston a 26-19 advantage with 10:22 remaining in the half.
The Mountain Lions fought back on several occasions, tying the game once and cutting the Golden Eagles' lead to just two points three other times before eventually losing 81-69 after an 11-1 Charleston spurt in the final 3:35 of the second half put an end to Concord's comeback hopes.
Chelsea Brumby scored 17 points to pace the Golden Eagles.
Concord is now slated to play two games in the next four days, starting with a 2:00 p.m. meeting at rival Bluefield State on Saturday January 5.
