WHEELING, W.Va. – Five players finished in double figures for the Concord University women's basketball team as it shot 55.4 percent on its way to a 92-87 win over Urbana in the Mountain East Conference Tournament's Quarterfinal Round Thursday night at WesBanco Arena.
Even though Concord (21-8) trailed just twice in the game—2-0 and 26-25—the Mountain Lions didn't have any easy sledding as the Blue Knights (17-12) nearly erased a double-digit, fourth-quarter deficit before CU held on for the win.
CU went to the fourth quarter holding a 68-61 lead. Each team traded buckets to begin the period, but junior guard
Keely Lundy created separation between the teams with two three-pointers in a 39-second span to give the Mountain Lions a 74-63 lead with 8:02 remaining in the game.
Concord was able to keep at least a six-point edge on UU until Urbana hit a three-pointer to cut the margin to 81-77 with 2:38 left in the game. Now hanging onto an 86-84 lead with less than 30 seconds left in the game, senior forward
Madison May was able to track down an offensive rebound near the foul line. The Athens, West Virginia native calmly canned both free throws with 18 seconds left.
With Urbana still hanging onto a glimmer of hope with three seconds left, junior forward
Riley Fitzwater stepped up to the foul line and sealed the win by making both foul shots for the final margin of victory.
May and sophomore guard
Gracie Robinson got CU out of the gate quickly as the duo combined for 15 of the first 19 Concord points to give the Mountain Lions a 19-12 lead after seven minutes of action.
Up by seven points at halftime, 46-39, Concord held off several attempts by the Blue Knights to tie the game as May beat the third-quarter buzzer to restore a seven-point advantage heading into the final period, 66-59.
As a team, CU shot 36-of-65 from the floor led by 90 percent (9-of-10) from Fitzwater who set the individual MEC Tournament single-game field-goal percentage record. Additionally, Concord shot at least 50 percent in each quarter including a scorching 69.2 percent in the third.
May finished with 29 points—with 18 points coming after halftime—to go along with six rebounds and a game-best seven assists. Fitzwater just missed a double-double with 21 points and eight rebounds.
Lundy notched 13 points. Robinson tied her career high with three three-pointers and tossed in 12 points. Sophomore guard
Maggie Guynn rounded out the double-figure scorers with 11 points.
Urban's Sylvia Hudson concluded her career by tossing in 37 points—the third-most in an MEC Tournament game.
Concord advances to the MEC Semifinals 12:00 p.m. Saturday where it faces Glenville State.
