ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team ran out to a 19-2 first-quarter advantage and led wire-to-wire as it downed West Liberty, 68-56, Wednesday night in Mountain East Conference action at the Carter Center.
CU (3-2) opened the game by shooting 44.4 percent (8-for-18) from the floor, and held the Hilltoppers (2-3) to one field on 15 attempts in the opening 10 minutes of the game.
West Liberty was able to cut the CU deficit to 10 points, 21-11, as it held the Mountain Lions to two points in the first five minutes of the second quarter, but an 8-3 run—with all the points coming from senior forward
Riley Fitzwater and junior guard
Maggie Guynn pushed the lead back to 15 points, 29-14, at halftime.
The Hilltoppers were able to make another charge in the opening minutes of the third quarter, but once again Concord had an answer as it turned a seven-point lead into a 16-point cushion, 41-25, with 3:18 left in the third quarter. Fitzwater scored eight of the 10 CU points during the 10-1 run that span four minutes of the third.
West Liberty had one final comeback attempt in the game as it cut the CU lead back to 54-48 with 2:26 remaining in the game. Over the final 2:26 of the contest, Concord knocked down 12-of-16 free throws as the Maroon and Gray finished the night, 19-for-27 at the charity stripe.
Fitzwater tallied her third career 30-point game with 30 points to go with 15 rebounds for her fourth double-double in five contests in 2021.
Freshman guard
Maddie Ratcliff came off the bench to provide 15 points while doing a little bit of everything else with six rebounds, four steals and three assists. Guynn aided the late free-throw shooting to pitch in 10 points.
CU nearly doubled up West Liberty on the glass with 42 rebounds to WLU's 23. Defensively, the Mountain Lions held West Liberty to 33.9 percent while finishing the game at 46.2 percent (24-for-52).
Concord travels to Wheeling 2:00 p.m. Saturday.
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