ATHENS, W.Va- The Concord University women's basketball team's second half surge fell short against UVa.-Wise in a 97-91 loss Thursday evening at the Carter Center.
Concord falls to 2-13 overall, (1-10 MEC). UVa.-Wise improves to 14-5 overall (9-2 MEC).
UVa.-Wise ran out to a 26-14 lead with 1:18 left in the first quarter, to take control of the early proceedings.
However, Concord hit two straight buckets to close the deficit to seven after junior guard
Danielle Catron hit a three-pointer and freshman guard
Taylor Baltimore earned a scrappy offensive rebound and put-back layup with 18 seconds left in the first quarter to take some momentum into the second period.
In the second quarter, the Cavaliers threatened to run away with the lead once again after Makenzie Cluesman made a three-pointer with 1:40 remaining in the half to give UVa.-Wise a 14-point lead, 47-33.
However, Concord closed the half on a 7-2 run led by a three-pointer from senior guard
Alexis Lowery, a layup by sophomore guard
Emily Boothe, and a quick layup in the lane from Baltimore with just two seconds left to make the score 49-42 in favor of the Cavaliers heading into the break.
The Mountain Lions picked up where they left off to open the second half as junior forward
Heather Chapman converted a quick layup to start the half and spark a 5-0 run to help close the gap to two, 49-47, with 8:25 left in the third.
This time however, it was the Cavaliers who ended the quarter on a bit of a run, outscoring the Mountain Lions by eight, 25-17, for the rest of the quarter to take a 76-66 lead entering the final period.
Concord made yet another push to start the fourth, coming closest to taking the lead after scoring 11 of the first 13 points of the quarter to cut the UVa.-Wise lead to one, 78-77, with 7:33 remaining.
Three jump shots from Catron highlighted Concord's effort to get back into the game.
The two teams exchanged makes from the field for the next three minutes before CU took its first lead of the game on a jump shot from Lowery to make the score 84-82 with 4:15 left.
Four consecutive free throws from the Cavaliers' Taylor Sandidge helped the Highland Cavaliers restore a two-point advantage just 30 seconds later.
The two teams continued to trade buckets to close the game, with UVa.-Wise clinging onto a three-point lead, 94-91, with 24 seconds left to play. A three-point attempt from the Mountain Lions with 19 seconds left to tie the game rattled out, and the Cavaliers made the necessary free throws to secure a six-point victory.
The Cavaliers shot 57.1 percent from the field.
Lowery led all scorers with 24 points, making four three-pointers. Boothe provided 13 points in her first start of the season, while grabbing a career-high seven rebounds.
Catron continued her strong output off of the bench, scoring 18 points. Catron is now averaging 20.3 points per game in her last three appearances off of the bench.
Concord travels to Institute, West Virginia for a 2:00 p.m. clash with West Virginia State.
