ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball fell in its opening game at the Rollins Tournament to 14
th-ranked Rollins College 62-45 Monday afternoon at the Warden Center.
Both teams played lockdown defense early in the game as the first points of the contest weren't scored until over 3:30 into the game and Concord (3-4, 3-1 MEC) was unable to score until the 11:21 mark of the first half.
With 6:33 left in the first half, the Mountain Lions were down 26-4 before they closed the half on a 14-7 run to cut the halftime deficit to 33-18.
During the run, senior forward
Jacqueline Kestner was 5-for-6 from the free throw line. Freshman guard
Lindsey Overbey had four points, senior guard
Melea Smith (three) and junior forward
Kylie Molisee (two) rounded out the scorers for CU during the run.
Senior forward
Rachel Artrip scored the first points of the second to close the gap to 33-20, but it would as close as CU got to RC (7-1) the rest of the game. However, Smith scored 16 of her 22 points in the second half and carried the Mountain Lion posting 16 of CU's 27 points in the second half.
It was second time in three games that Smith has scored at least 20 points in a game. Smith was also successful on six three-point attempts, a personal-best.
Molisee, who was tied for the Mountain East Conference lead in rebounding per game with Kestner entering the matchup, grabbed 13 rebounds while Kestner had eight boards.
The Mountain Lions will play in the consolation game of the Rollins Tournament Tuesday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. versus Tarleton State.
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