ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team erased an 18-point first-half deficit, but could not hold off a late rally by Notre Dame as it fell 96-94 Thursday night in Mountain East Conference action at the Carter Center.
NDC (18-8, 14-5 MEC) came out firing from three-point range as it buried seven of its first 10 attempts from beyond the arc to help build a 38-20 lead with 8:14 remaining in the second quarter.
The Mountain Lions (11-14, 7-12 MEC) outscored the Falcons 24-10 over the remainder of the half to only trail by four, 48-44, at the intermission.
Senior guard
Danielle Catron keyed the run with nine of her 11 points during the spurt. Freshman forward
Riley Fitzwater and junior guard
Andreanna Pool each had six points during the run as well.
After trading buckets with Notre Dame to start the second half, CU was able to grab its first lead, 56-54, on a Fitzwater layup with 4:41 left in the third quarter. But, the Falcons outscored the Mountain Lions 14-6 in the final moments of the third to lead 68-62 heading to the fourth period.
NDC held onto to its lead over the first six minutes of the fourth until junior guard
Emily Boothe nailed two foul shots to give the Mountain Lions an 81-80 lead with 3:31 remaining. Pool extended CU's lead to 86-82 after a pull up three-pointer from the top of the key with 2:24 left.
Once again, Notre Dame had a response as it scored eight straight points before a Boothe three-point cut the CU deficit to 90-89 with 52 seconds remaining. But, it was as close as Concord would get as NDC made free throws down the stretch to win by two points.
Fitzwater finished with a career-best 34 points on 16-for-21 shooting while also collecting 13 rebounds. Pool pitched in a career-best with 20 points including four three-pointers.
Boothe and senior forward
Heather Chapman each added 12 points with Boothe also notching a game-high seven assists. Catron was the fifth CU player in double figures with 11 points.
The Mountain Lions shot 58.5 percent (38-for-65) from the floor—the ninth time this season they have been over 50 percent from the field.
Concord hosts Urbana 2:00 p.m. Saturday.
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