Concord Comes Up Short at Bluefield State

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit, but came up short, 80-74, Tuesday night in a non-conference game at Ned Shott Gymnasium.

Down 66-57 in the first 90 seconds of the fourth quarter, the Mountain Lions (1-2) began a 9-0 run as they held Bluefield State scoreless for the next five minutes to knot the game at 66-66 with 3:39 remaining in the game. The next five points belonged to BSU, but a layup from junior guard Jaisah Smith and a transition bucket from junior guard Maddie Ratcliff got Concord back to within 71-70 with 1:48 remaining.

The teams traded buckets, and a three-point play from freshman forward Abbie Smith trimmed the CU deficit to within 71-70 at the 1:11 mark. A free throw from Smith made the score 76-74 Bluefield State. The Big Blues scored on the next possession, and Concord was unable to answer.

Bluefield State ran out to a 23-16 lead after 10 minutes, and held a 35-26 lead before the Mountain Lions finished the first half on an 8-0 run to trim their halftime margin to 35-34. CU was unable to contain BSU early in the third as Bluefield State opened up a 13-point lead, 49-36. CU briefly cut the margin to five, 58-53, after a three-pointer from senior guard Jazz Blankenship before the final five points of the third went to the Big Blues.

Smith tallied her first career double-double in her third career game with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Ratcliff dropped in 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting. Graduate forward Alexis Phillips only missed one shot (5-of-6) on her way to 12 points while adding eight rebounds. Graduate guard Maggie Guynn and Smith each had nine points.

Concord netted 50 points in the paint.

CU welcomes Charleston to the Carter Center for both the home and Mountain East Conference opener 2:00 p.m. Saturday.