BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team erased a halftime deficit against West Virginia Wesleyan, then held off a fourth-quarter rally from the Bobcats to earn a 65-64 win at the Rockefeller Center Wednesday night in Mountain East Conference action.
Trailing 28-25 at halftime, Concord (10-4, 7-2 MEC) surged in front of the Bobcats (4-11, 1-8 MEC) by outscoring them 18-12 in the third quarter. Sophomore guard Maggie Guynn and senior forward Madison May combined for 14 of the 18 points while junior forward Riley Fitzwater added the other four points in the period.
Defensively, the Mountain Lions held the Bobcats to 25 percent shooting (6-for-24) in the quarter to take a 43-30 advantage to the final period.
CU opened the fourth on a 7-2 run on a three-pointer from freshman guard Jazz Blankenship and a back-to-back buckets from junior forward Tamra Scott as Concord opened up its biggest lead of the game, 50-42, at the 8:31 mark.
Holding off any WVWC comeback attempts, Concord still led by six, 61-55, with 3:12 remaining in the game. However, nine of the next 11 points belonged to Wesleyan as it took a 64-63 edge 36 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing Concord possession, May was fouled and tied the game. Holding for the final shot, Blankenship and Fitzwater combined to force Wesleyan's Brittany Stawovy into a tough shot. May was able to pull down the rebound as she was fouled, and once again connected on 1-of-2 at the foul line. Needing one more stop with 1.6 seconds left, the Bobcats airballed a long two-pointer as time expired.
With a layup at the 1:36 mark of the fourth quarter—CU's final field goal of the game—Fitzwater became the 18th player in program history with 1,000 career points.
The Mountain Lions held WVWC to 30.5 percent shooting (25-for-82) for the game, but allowed 22 offensive rebounds.
Guynn finished with a game-best 21 points. May added a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Fitzwater just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.
Concord returns to the Carter Center 2:00 p.m. Saturday to face Davis & Elkins.
