ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team lost 90-65 Saturday afternoon at the Carter Center to West Liberty in Mountain East Conference action.
West Liberty (7-4, 4-1 MEC) stormed out to a 42-14 in the first 15 minutes of the game. Â However, Concord (3-6, 3-2 MEC) was unfazed by the elongated WLU run as they began to eat away at the deficit. The Mountain Lions scored 17 consecutive points to trail 42-31 with 1:29 left in the half.
It was a well-balanced CU attack that allowed the Maroon and Gray back in the game as senior forward
Jacqueline Kestner five of the 17 points while senior forward
Rachel Artrip and senior guard
Melea Smith had four points each. Freshman guards
Danielle Catron and
Pornnutcha Sawatong each had a basket in the run as well.
Also during the stretch, Concord held the Hilltoppers to 0-for-3 from the field and forced six turnovers.
WLU was able to extend their lead back to 15, 50-35, at halftime.
The Mountain Lions were unable to get any closer in the second half as they fell by the 25-point margin.
Artrip finished with her first double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds, just one off of her career high. Kestner scored 13 points including an 8-for-9 showing at the free-throw line, tying the most foul shots she's made in a game. The 88.9 percent shooting at the line was also the best for Kestner in her career with at least five attempts in a game.
Sophomore forward
Alley Odell scored a season-high nine points off the bench while Catron and Smith both had eight points for Concord.
The Mountain Lions edged WLU in steals (9-7) and free-throw shooting percentage (82.6-69.6).
West Liberty was led by the MEC's leading-scorer Liz Flowers who recorded a game-high 30 points.
CU will look to snap its brief three-game losing streak 4:00 p.m. Monday afternoon at home versus Wheeling Jesuit. Â
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