2019-20 Concord Stats -
2019-20 Charleston Stats -
2019-20 West Virginia State Stats -
Live Stats -
Live Video -
Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W.Va. - After a 306-day wait, the Concord University women's basketball team takes the court again as it opens the 2021 season at Charleston 5:30 p.m. Thursday before hosting West Virginia State 2:00 p.m. Sunday at the Carter Center.
GAME INFORMATION
With the MEC's decision to not allow fans into games until at least January 19, 2021, all basketball games across the conference will be streamed, accompanied by live stats during the 2021 regular season. Those live coverage options can be accessed at the top of the page or by clicking
here.
RECORDS
The Mountain Lions were picked to finish fourth in the Mountain East Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll after going 21-9 last season and advancing to the MEC Tournament Semifinals for a second straight season.
Charleston finished in the top three of the MEC for a second straight year after going 23-7 and are picked third in this year's preseason poll.
West Virginia State finished 10-20 a season ago and was slotted seventh in the coaches' poll.
TRENDING UP
Over the last two years, Concord has had back-to-back 20-win seasons after notching a program-record 23 wins in 2018-19 and adding 21 more wins last winter. The only other teams in the MEC to win 20 games in each of the last two seasons are Glenville State and Charleston. Add in the 13 wins from the 2017-18 campaign, and Concord trails only Glenville State (86), Notre Dame (65) and Charleston (62) for most wins in the MEC in the last three seasons. Not only has Concord built itself up near the top of the MEC, but the Mountain Lions return 72 percent of its scoring from last season led by senior forward
Riley Fitzwater (16.3 points per game), junior guard
Maggie Guynn (15.5 ppg), senior guard
Keely Lundy (7.2 ppg), junior guard
Gracie Robinson (6.9 ppg) and senior forward
Tamra Scott (4.6 ppg).
TWO OF A KIND
While CU has to replace the 22.2 points per game left by the void of two-time all-region selection
Madison May, Fitzwater and Guynn are two of the top returning players in the MEC. Of the returning players in the league, Fitzwater is the seventh-leading scorer from a season ago while Guynn ranks ninth. The only other team with two players represented in the top ten in last year's returning scorers is Glenville State with Zakiyah Winfield (fourth) and Re'Shawna Stone (fifth). Fitzwater led the league in field-goal percentage (67.4 percent) and blocks per game (4.1) last season while ranking third in rebounds per game (12.1). Guynn is the second-best returning foul shooter from the 2019-20 as the Pearisburg, Virginia native hit 76.2 percent (93-for-122) of her free throws.
A LITTLE OF THIS, A LITTLE OF THAT
Though she only averaged 6.9 points per game last season, Robinson was just one of five players in the MEC to score 100 points, grab 100 rebounds and hand out 100 assists, and just one of three underclassmen to achieve the feat around the league. Robinson ranks in a tie for third in the MEC in assists per game among players returning after averaging 3.4 assists in 2019-20. Nearly half of Robinson's assists came (46 of 102) came in February and the two games in March last season—a total of 12 games.
RECORD BOOK WATCH
To start the truncated 16-game MEC slate, head coach
Kenny Osborne needs 11 wins to reach 300 for his career. Of the active head coaches in the Atlantic Region only Kutztown's Janet Malouf, Shaw's Jacques Curtis and Shippensburg's Kristy Trn have more career wins than Osborne who begins his 21
st season at Concord, and 22
nd overall. Entering the 2021 season, Fitzwater is on pace to become the career leader in field goal percentage for Division II. The Glenville, West Virginia native is 0.3 percent ahead of the career mark set by Valdosta State's Deidre Williams from 1993-96. Williams shot 67.6 percent over her career while Fitzwater is currently shooting 67.9 (550-for-809), including leading Division II in field-goal percentage two of the last three years. Other career achievements include Lundy needing nine three-pointers to become the 10
th player in program history with 100 or more career triples.
RIVALRY RENEWED
For the second straight season, Concord and Charleston begin the conference season by opening with one another. The Mountain Lions pulled out an 81-72 overtime home win last season before Charleston clipped CU on the road, 63-42, as it held Concord to a season low in points. But in Concord's win, Guynn dropped in a career-high 23 points. Fitzwater added 18 points, seven rebound and nine blocks. Robinson just missed her first career double-double with nine points, eight rebounds and four assists. UC owns a 39-14 series advantage, dating back to 1994, but Concord and Charleston have split the last six meetings with alternating wins.
LIGHTING IT UP
Concord is averaging 90.3 points per game in its last eight meetings with West Virginia State, but is just 4-4 in those games. However, last season the Maroon and Gray swept the Yellow Jackets by scoring a program-record 122 points in a 10-point road win and scoring a 103-77 home victory. Guynn averaged 22.5 points per game against WVSU last season while shooting 54.2 percent (19-for-35) from the floor. Fitzwater has two triple-doubles in her career, both of which have come against West Virginia State. As a sophomore, Fitzwater recorded 10 points, 20 rebounds and 11 blocks. Last season at home, she scored 20 points, had 15 rebounds and blocked 10 shots versus WVSU.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2- Two of the last four meetings between Concord and Charleston have been decided in overtime.
18- Rebounds needed by Fitzwater to move into second place on the all-time list at Concord. She currently has 1,023.
61.7- In scoring 122 points at WVSU last season, CU shot 61.7 percent from the floor.
CHARLESTON AT A GLANCE
Two-time Charleston graduate Tianni Kelly takes over for Becky Burke after the former UC head coach led the Golden Eagles to 49 wins in the last two seasons. Kelly, a 2014 undergraduate alumni of UC, spent last season at Valdosta State as an assistant, and before that was an assistant at Florida Southern. Kelly and the Golden Eagles return one of the MEC's best shooters in Dakota Reeves who was the league's freshman of the year last season. Reeves connected on 47.4 percent of her shots from three-point range—a league best—and made 99 triples. Though UC lost forward Anna Hayton, Erykah Russell averaged 11.2 points per game and grabbed 7.7 rebounds per contest last season.
WEST VIRGINIA STATE AT A GLANCE
The Yellow Jackets return their top four scorers from a season ago led by Charity Shears who pumped in 15.6 points per game in 2019-20. Shears was also third in the MEC in made three-pointers from a season ago with 103. Twin sister, Payton, and Destiny Fields complement Shears on the perimeter as they averaged 10.3 and 11.1 points per game, respectively. Inside, Chloe Cheresne notched 13.0 points per game. WVSU averaged 85.4 points per game last season, but gave up 92.4 points per game.
