Concord Seeks to Continue Success Against West Virginia State on the Road

Concord Stats - West Virginia State Stats - Live Stats - Live Video - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University women's basketball team takes to the road for a 2:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon tip off against West Virginia State in a Mountain East Conference clash.

LIVE COVERAGE
The West Virginia State Sports Information Department will have live in-game statistics and live streaming video of Tuesday's matinee matchup. 

Live Stats
Live Video

SERIES HISTORY: Concord leads 34-20

LAST FIVE MEETINGS
February 23, 2022: Concord 101 - West Virginia State 95 (OT) (Institute, W.Va.)
November 23, 2021: Concord 75 - West Virginia State 69 (Athens, W.Va.)
February 17, 2021: Concord 104 - West Virginia State 93 (Institute, W.Va.)
January 10, 2021: Concord 70 - West Virginia State 67 (Athens, W.Va.)
February 26, 2020: Concord 103 - West Virginia State 77 (Athens, W.Va.)

SWARMING DEFENSE
Despite falling to Charleston 72-57 Saturday afternoon in the home opener for the Mountain Lions, CU forced the Golden Eagles into 20 turnovers as nearly half, 9 of 20, were live ball turnovers. Junior guard Maddie Ratcliff had three steals while senior guard Nakaila Gray added three steals and six rebounds, both career highs, off the bench. Concord has forced 20 or more turnovers in two of its four games this season, and ranks sixth in the MEC in turnovers forced per game, 19.3. Meanwhile, West Virginia State and its suffocating press is forcing 28 turnovers per game through three games. WVSU forced 39 turnovers in its first game of the season against Livingstone.

KNOCK EM IN
The Mountain Lions attempted 28 free throws in Saturday's game which marked the second time this season that CU has lined up for at least 25 free throw attempts—Concord shot 31 foul shots against Clarion in the season opener. Through four games, the Maroon and Gray is shooting 73.4 percent from the charity stripe which is third in the MEC. Individually, junior guard Jaisah Smith is second in the league in free-throw percentage (19-20/.950), Ratcliff is 11^th (11-14/.786) and graduate forward Alexis Phillips is 14^th (.750/15-20). The 94 free throws that CU has attempted this season are the third most in the MEC behind Frostburg State and Fairmont State.

TAKING THE STING OUT
Concord has won six straight games over West Virginia State, and eight of the last 10 against Yellow Jackets. Graduate guard Maggie Guynn and Phillips are 4-0 in their careers at the Walker Convocation Center with CU's last loss at WVSU coming at the end of the 2017-18 season. The Mountain Lions needed overtime to secure a 101-95 win at West Virginia State in February as West Virginia State outscored Concord by nine in the fourth quarter to push the game to overtime. The last Yellow Jackets' win over the Maroon and Gray came at CU at the end of the 2018-19 season. Concord has an overall series advantage of 34-20.

CENTURY MARK
The last three times that Concord has stepped on the hardwood at West Virginia State it has topped 100 points. In February 2021, the Mountain Lions went for 104 points in an 11-point win. Concord netted a program-record 122 points in a 10-point victory in November 2019. Current Concord assistant coach Madison Heller erupted for 38 points in the 2019 win. Guynn is averaging 18.5 points per game in her career at West Virginia State and is shooting 65.1 percent inside the Walker Convocation Center. Smith tallied 19 points and seven assists in last season's win. Ratcliff is averaging 13 points per game and is shooting 57.8 percent in two games. In the last three road games versus WVSU, CU has shot 60 percent or better.

MID RANGE FORM
Included in Concord's winning streak over West Virginia State was a 75-69 win at home last November. The Mountain Lions heated up WVSU as it shot 53.1 percent from the field. The Mountain Lions did a bulk of their damage from the midrange area and painted area. CU had 40 points in the paint. Guynn went for a career-best 31 points on 12-for-15 shooting. Guynn made just one three pointers and six free throws with the rest of her points coming from the elbow area of the court. Phillips did her scoring from the foul line as seven of her 11 points came at the charity stripe. After a slow start of shooting 33.3 percent (3-for-9) in the first quarter, Concord shot 50 percent or better in each of the remaining three quarters.

GET ON THE GLASS
The Mountain Lions have an even rebounding margin for the season heading into Tuesday's contest as they are averaging 37.0 rebounds per contest. Concord held a 38-37 rebounding edge in the November win over West Virginia State while the Yellow Jackets outrebounded CU 49-43 in February. West Virginia State is averaging 55.3 boards per game which is first in Division II. And half of those rebounds come on the offensive glass, 27.7. Emyah Fortenberry leads two players in the top 10 of the MEC in rebounding with 12.3 per game. CU's top rebounder is Phillips who is grabbing 7.8 per game, 10^th in the league. Freshman forward Abbie Smith is 14^th with 6.8 rebounds per contest.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
19.2- Average points per game by Guynn in her career against WVSU.

38- Three-pointer attempt differential last season between Concord and West Virginia State on the road as CU attempted 11 to WVSU's 49.

54- Points in the paint for Concord in last season's win at West Virginia State.

WEST VIRGINIA STATE AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 2-0
MEC Record: 0-1
Home Record: 2-0
Away Record: 0-1

SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
West Virginia State started the season with wins over Livingstone and West Chester before a 75-70 loss at Glenville State in the MEC opener Saturday afternoon. Shelby Harmeyer is WVSU's leading scorer with 16.0 points per game. She adds 8.7 rebounds per contest, seventh in the MEC. In her most recent game against Concord, Harmeyer netted 27 points that included seven three-pointers. West Chester was able to shoot 54.3 percent on West Virginia State, but WVSU held Livingstone and Glenville State below 35 percent from the floor.