ATHENS, W.Va. – Senior forward
Heather Chapman nailed a foul shot with five seconds left in the game to complete a 71-70 comeback win for the Concord University women's basketball team Thursday night in Mountain East Conference play at the Carter Center.
After leading for much of the game, the Mountain Lions (5-7, 3-6 MEC) relinquished the advantage to Wheeling Jesuit (6-9, 4-5 MEC) with 4:40 left in the third quarter.
The Cardinals were able to build their lead up to as much as nine points, 63-54, with 8:58 remaining in the game. From there, Concord got defensive with Wheeling Jesuit and methodically climbed back into the contest.
Over the next five minutes, Concord held Wheeling Jesuit to four points and used a 12-4 run to trail by just one point with 3:26 left after a put back on the offensive glass by Chapman. The first 10 points in the spurt were spread out with freshman forward
Riley Fitzwater notching six points, sophomore forward
Madison May hitting two free throws and junior guard
Andreanna Pool converting a layup. Â
After a steal by Chapman, junior guard
Emily Boothe was fouled with 1:53 left in the game. The Riner, Virginia native calmly sank both free throws to give CU a 68-67 advantage.
However, WJU's Monica Burns hit a three-pointer on the next possession to give Wheeling Jesuit a 70-68 edge with 1:29 remaining.
Boothe returned the favor as she drove down the right baseline, was bumped and fouled and made the layup to tie the game at 70-70.
On their next possession, the Cardinals had three looks at the basket before senior guard
Danielle Catron finally secured the rebound with 32 seconds remaining. On an in-bounds pass for CU, Chapman was fouled. After missing the first, the Summerville, South Carolina native made the second to push CU in front 71-70.
Wheeling Jesuit had a look at the basketball from the paint, but the shot went wide and Concord hung on for the win.
Fitzwater missed a triple-double by one block as she scored 22 points, collected 26 rebounds and swatted away nine shots. Her 26 rebounds are tied for the most in a Division II game this season, and is also a single-game school record. Thursday was Fitzwater's second 20-20 game this season.
Catron also finished in double figures with 16 points and now stands seven points away from 1,000 in her career. Chapman added nine points and six rebounds. Boothe had four of her eight points in critical moments for the Mountain Lions.
Concord held WJU to 31.5 percent from the field (23-for-73), the second-lowest mark of the season for a CU opponent.
Concord hosts West Liberty 1:00 p.m. Saturday.
Â
