ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team survived a furious comeback from Glenville State as it won 103-102 inside the Carter Center Saturday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference battle.
The Mountain Lions (20-8, 16-6 MEC) watched an 18-point lead with 4:54 left evaporate away as GSC (23-5, 19-3 MEC) scored 13 unanswered points to pull even at 102 with 22 seconds left. On the ensuing Concord possession, senior forward
Madison May was fouled with 13 seconds left and calmly sank a free throw to put CU up by one point.
The Pioneers were able to get a shot off from the right baseline with less than a second left, but it was short and junior forward
Riley Fitzwater grabbed her 18
th rebound of the game as Concord held on for the upset victory.
It was Glenville State that started fast as it led 22-7 six minutes into the game, but the Mountain Lions finished the first period on a 21-9 run to close within 31-28 after a quarter of action. The surge continued into the second for CU as it took its first lead of the game at 33-32 after a Fitzwater layup at the 7:52 mark.
Junior guard
Keely Lundy put an exclamation on the first half by burying one of her career-best five three-pointer at the second-period horn to give Concord a 54-44 advantage at halftime.
With the exception of a 22-second span to begin the third quarter, the Maroon and Gray led by double figures for the entire third quarter, and into the fourth, before the Glenville State flurry to tie the game late.
The Mountain Lions even led by as much as 21 points after a May three-point play at the 6:03 mark of the third quarter.
Concord set the MEC single-game field goal percentage record by shooting 66.2 percent for the contest, including over 65 percent for each of the final three quarters. Every CU player that made a field goal in the game was at least 50 percent from the floor.
May finished her home career with 29 points on 11-for-21 shooting while adding seven assists. Fitzwater poured in 26 points on 12-of-15 from the field to go along with 18 boards and seven blocks. Lundy hit on 5-for-9 from three-point range to finish with 15 points.
Sophomore guard
Maggie Guynn netted 11 points (5-for-8). Junior forward
Tamra Scott had eight points off the bench while sophomore guard
Gracie Robinson (six points), freshman guard
Nakaila Gray (four points) and freshman uard
Ashton Funderburg (four points) rounded out the scorers.
Robinson matched May with seven assists.
CU assisted on 24 of 43 made shots, and outrebounded the Pioneers 38-33.
Concord plays Urbana 8:15 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinal round of the MEC Tournament at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia.
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