Concord Cruises Past Shepherd, 88-64

Box Score
With the win the Mountain Lions run their record to 6-6 overall and 4-5 in MEC play. The win is Concord's second straight and fifth in the last seven games. Shepherd drops to 2-11 overall and 2-7 in league games.

CU led virtually through the entirety of the contest. Shepherd scored the first points of the game before Concord scored the next six on a bucket each from junior forward Andrea Bertrand, junior guard Rachel Artrip and senior center Sammi Webster.

Over the first five minutes of the game, Shepherd kept the margin within five points. However, leading 14-9 with 14:40 left in the first half, Concord darted out on a 9-3 run to take their first double-digit lead of the game, 23-12, at the 9:09 mark in the period. The Mountain Lions maintained thier lead and took a 35-24 lead into the halftime break. 

Out of intermission, Shepherd opened up the second half on an 11-2  run to trim the CU lead to 37-35, but after a three-pointer and a layup by junior Sissy Wagner, the Mountain Lions regained a seven-point lead with just under 17 minutes to play.

The Rams cut the deficit to five points before junior forward Jacqueline Kestner hit a three-pointer of her own with 16:30 left in the game to extend the CU lead back to eight points. From there, Concord would go on a 38-18 run to extend its advantage to as many as 30 points on its way to the 24-point victory,  

For the second consecutive game, Kestner led Concord in scoring with 19 points, falling just one point shy of her career-high, which she set on Saturday against Fairmont State. She made a career-high five three-pointers and shot 6-of-12 from the field including 5-of-7 from three-point range in addition to grabbing seven rebounds.

Wagner registered the second double-double of her Concord career and her first of the season with a 14-point, 12-assist effort. Her 12 assists were a career-best

Meanwhile, Bertrand fell just one rebound shy of collecting a second Mountain Lion double-double of the game and potentially her third double-double of the season by finishing the game with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting and pulling in a team-best nine rebounds.

With 10 points Monday, Webster, who also had eight rebounds, has now scored in double digits in three of the last five games.

Concord got great bench play including an 11-point effort from sophomore guard Leslie Mack who shot 4-of-6 from the floor and made two three-point buckets.

The 24-point win is the largest margin of victory for the Mountain Lions since the same margin of victory last season against Ohio Valley.

CU edged out Shepherd in points off turnovers (17-14), second chance points (18-12) and bench points (23-21).

The Mountain Lions also held an advantage in field goal percentage (48.5-37.3) and three-point field goal percentage (40.9-30.4)

Shepherd was led by Gabby Flinchum, who record a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds.

Concord returns home to hos West Virginia State 2:00 p.m. Saturday at the Carter Center.