Concord Loses at Shepherd

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team dropped a 78-66 decision to Shepherd Thursday in Mountain East Conference play at the Butcher Center.
 
The Mountain Lions (4-6, 2-5 MEC) were unable to overcome an explosive scoring night from Shepherd (7-6, 3-4 MEC) guard Morgan Arden who finished the game with 40 points on 16-22 shooting including a 7-11 performance from three-point range.
 
Despite Arden's outburst, CU and Shepherd battled back and forth in the first half. The Rams jumped in front 7-0 to start the game, but Concord climbed back and took its first lead, 16-15, after a layup from freshman forward Riley Fitzwater.
 
Shepherd carried a 20-17 lead into the second quarter.
 
A layup from sophomore forward Madison May and another bucket in the paint by Fitzwater gave CU a 27-25 edge at the 4:54 mark of the second quarter. The remainder of the first half featured two ties and two lead changes with Arden drilling a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give SU a 38-35 advantage.
 
Senior guard Danielle Catron notched two of her 14 points on the night with 7:06 left in the third quarter to get Concord within 42-41. However, Shepherd responded with a quick 7-0 run to gain an eight-point lead. The Rams ran its margin out to 11 points at the end of the third quarter.
 
The Mountain Lions got within six points on two different occasions in the fourth quarter, but was unable to trim the deficit further in the 12-point loss.
 
Senior forward Heather Chapman and junior guard Emily Boothe joined Catron in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Chapman chipped in six rebounds. May just missed a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.
 
Concord continues its road trip at Fairmont State 2:00 p.m. Saturday.