Concord Surges Past West Liberty, 86-75

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team came out victorious in a Mountain East Conference matchup against West Liberty, 86-75, Saturday afternoon at the Carter Center.

With both teams trading buckets, the score was tied 64-64 with 5:51 remaining in the game. From that point, Concord (16-9, 10-8 MEC) went on a 19-7 run to separate from the Hilltoppers (16-7, 11-6 MEC) late.

The run started with senior guard Gracie Robinson swiping her third steal of the game and outletting a pass to sophomore guard Maddie Ratcliff to lay it in and draw a foul for a three-point play. Senior guard Maggie Guynn continued to attack the paint, scoring four points inside the foul line and drawing a foul that resulted with two made free throws during the run. Fifth-year senior forward Riley Fitzwater and sophomore guard Jaisah Smith also contributed four points each during the span.

CU jumped out on West Liberty 13-5 to start the game and only trailed twice in the first half. CU had a 38-32 lead at halftime. The lead expanded to 11 points two different times in the third quarter as CU led 56-45 at 3:30 of the period. However, WLU scored 15 of the next 19 points to tie the game at 60.

Concord dominated the painted area, scoring 50 paint points compared to the Hilltoppers' 30 points in the paint. CU shot better than 50 percent in three of the four quarters and 51.6 percent for the game.

Concord was 20-of-25 at the foul line and closed out the Hilltoppers by going 10-of-11 at the charity stripe in the fourth.

Guynn and Fitzwater tied for the game-lead in scoring with 23 points each. Guynn shot 66.7 percent (8-of-12) and grabbed six rebounds. Fitzwater collected 17 rebounds and blocked four shots. Smith had 10 points and two steals. Ratcliff finished with 11 points and three assists. Robinson was a pest on the defensive side of the ball, drawing five fouls (two charges, two illegal WLU screens) and snatching three steals. Offensively, Robinson finished with seven points.

Concord travels to Bluefield State Monday. Tipoff is at 5:30 p.m.