Concord Stats -
UVa.-Wise Stats -
Live Stats -
Live Video
ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University women's basketball team steps out of Mountain East Conference play when it faces non-conference foe UVa.-Wise in a road tilt 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Prior Center.
LIVE COVERAGE
Stats: The UVa.-Wise Sports Information Department will have live in-game statistics available for Monday's game.
Video: UVa.-Wise willl provide live streaming video of the contest.
RECORDS
The Mountain Lions are coming off an 83-66 win over Wheeling to improve to 9-4 on the season.
UVa.-Wise is 3-10 this season.
A BARRAGE OF POINTS
Concord scored 24 points in the first quarter of Saturday's win and added 34 more in the second quarter to grab a 58-24 edge at halftime. The 34 points are the most in a single quarter this season, and the 58 points are the most in a half for the Mountain Lions since netting 60 points at West Virginia State in November 2019 when CU also set the program record for single-game points (122). Junior guard
Jazz Blankenship and fifth-year senior forward
Riley Fitzwater each scored 15 points in the opening half of Saturday's win over Wheeling with Blankenship canning three three-pointers in the first 20 minutes. Concord went on separate runs of 18-2 and 17-3 versus the Cardinals in the opening half. Saturday made consecutive games where CU had 50-point halves after a 52-point second half outburst of Wednesday's win at West Liberty.
PAINTING THE TOWN
In their first two wins out of the Christmas break, the Mountain Lions have done the bulk of their damage in the paint. Against Wheeling, CU posted 48 points in the paint after a 42-point display inside the foul line against West Liberty. The 48 points represented the second-highest total of the season for the Maroon and Gray, trailing only the 54-point performance in the paint against Alderson Broaddus. Fitzwater scored 14 of her 15 points in the paint as she shot 7-of-8 versus Wheeling, but others chipped in getting easy baskets around the rim. All eight points for senior guard
Gracie Robinson were layups. Half of sophomore guard
Jaisah Smith's 16 points were in the paint. The high-quality shot selection led to the Mountain Lions shooting 62.1 percent in the first half versus Wheeling.
MOVING ON UP
By scoring 15 points on Saturday, Fitzwater moved into second place on the all-time scoring list at Concord with 1,796 points. The Glenville, West Virginia native trails only Jina Skinner (1989-92) on CU's points list as Skinner scored 2,050 points during her career. Fitzwater passed former teammate Madison May on the scoring list Saturday. Additionally, Fitzwater jumped past May and another former teammate, Emily Boothe, for career games played at Concord. Fitzwater suited up in her 117
th career game to assume the program lead in games played. In another record book check, senior guard
Maggie Guynn is now within 12 points of passing Andrea Bertrand (2011-14) for 17
th on the all-time scoring list. Guynn goes into action Monday with 1,066 career points.
TURNING UP THE HEAT
Not only did CU get easy paint points versus Wheeling, it also recorded a season-high in fast break points (17) and tallied the second-highest mark of the season in points off turnovers (24). The Mountain Lions forced 16 turnovers against Wheeling, just the fifth time in 2021-22 that the Maroon and Gray has forced more than 15 turnovers in a game. The seven steals were evenly distributed with Blankenship as the only player who had multiple steals versus the Cardinals. The Lester, West Virginia native also made the most of her transition opportunities as Blankenship (five) and Smith (six) combined for 11 of the 17 fast break points. Concord faces a UVa.-Wise team that is averaging 19 turnovers per game this season.
REUNION TOUR
Monday night will be the 18
th all-time meeting between Concord and UVa.-Wise with CU leading 10-7, and the fifth time that head coach
Kenny Osborne squares off with one of his former standout players and assistant coach Jamie Cluesman. Cluesman, now a CU Hall of Famer, donned the Maroon and Gray from 2003-08 and was Osborne's assistant up through the 2013-14 season. Cluesman still holds the career program marks for assists and steals. Osborne and the Mountain Lions won the first three meetings against Cluesman's Cavaliers, but UVa.-Wise nipped Concord 87-81 in the third game of the 2019-20 season at the Carter Center. The Mountain Lions have won their last two trips into the Prior Center, including a 75-65 win at the end of the 2018-19 season.
SEEING RED
When the Mountain Lions take the floor against the Cavaliers Monday night, only five players on the current roster will have matched up with UVa.-Wise: Fitzwater, junior guard
Ashton Funderburg, redshirt sophomore guard
Nakaila Gray, Guynn and Robinson. Guynn is averaging 12 points per game in four career games versus UVa.-Wise, including coming off the bench to net 21 points as a freshman at UVa.-Wise in February 2019. Fitzwater is averaging just under a double-double of 11.8 points and nine rebounds in her career versus UVa.-Wise, and does have three career double-doubles in six games against the Cavaliers. Funderburg knocked in two three-pointers in her lone appearance against the Cavaliers as a freshman in November 2019, which she didn't tie as a career high until hitting two three-pointers against Hawaii Pacific in December.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
10- Three of the four meetings between Cluesman and Osborne as head coaches have been decided by 10 points or less.
19- Number of combined ties and lead changes between the two teams in the latest meeting in November 2019.
49.2- Shooting percentage for CU in the narrow six-point home loss to UVa.-Wise two seasons ago.
UVA.-WISE AT A GLANCE
The Cavaliers are coming off a 15-5 season as they just missed the NCAA Tournament under Cluesman who is now in her fourth season at the helm of the program. The three wins this season came in succession between November 23-December 1. Nia Vanzant leads a balanced scoring attack with three players in double figures and two more averaging at least seven points per game. Vanzant is tossing in 16.5 points per game. Kalee Johnson is sinking 12.9 points per game with Caitlyn Ross adding 10.2 points per game. Meg Crawford is averaging right around a double-double with 9.3 points per game and 7.7 rebounds per contest.
