Concord Starts Busy Week with Matchup Against Rival Bluefield State

Concord Stats - Bluefield State Stats - Live Video - Live Stats - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University women's basketball team steps out of Mountain East Conference play for the final time this season when it visits Bluefield State's Ned Shott Gymnasium 5:30 p.m. Monday.

LIVE COVERAGE
Stats: Live in-game statistics of Monday's game will be provided. 
Video: Bluefield State will provide live streaming video of the game. 

RECORDS
The Mountain Lions are coming off an 86-75 win over West Liberty Saturday to improve to 16-9 this season.

Bluefield State is 3-15 under first-year head coach Paul Davis.

DYNAMIC DUO
Fifth-year senior forward Riley Fitzwater and senior guard Maggie Guynn both led the way for CU in its win Saturday afternoon. Both players scored 23 points. Fitzwater added 17 rebounds and four blocks as she tallied her 76^th career double-double. Guynn was a very efficient 8-of-12 from the floor as she hit all five free throws and made Concord's only two three-pointers of the contest. Guynn moved into 11^th on Concord's all-time scoring list with 1,185 points. She needs 21 more points to ascend into the top 10 at CU. Meanwhile, Fitzwater continued to inch her way to 2,000 career points. The Glenville, West Virginia native now has 1,952 career points. Saturday marked the seventh time in the careers of Fitzwater and Guynn that both have topped 20 points in the same game. The Mountain Lions are 6-1 in those seven games.

DEFENSIVE SWARM
Concord frustrated West Liberty into 16 turnovers as it turned those giveaways into 20 points. It marked the eighth time this season that the Mountain Lions have had 20 or more points off turnovers, including the second time in the last four games. At the head of that defensive intensity was senior guard Gracie Robinson who came up with three steals and drew four charges in the game. The Wytheville, Virginia native has tallied a team-best 11 offensive fouls drawn this season. Sophomore guard Jaisah Smith came up with two steals to give her three multi-steal games in the last four contests. The Bluefield, West Virginia native also has 12 steals in her last six games. Also on the defensive side of the ball, the Mountain Lions held West Liberty to 41.8 percent shooting, four points less than what the Hilltoppers arrived in Athens shooting this season.

BALANCE BEAM
For the third straight game and the fourth time in the last five contests, the Mountain Lions had at least four double-figure scorers in the same game. Smith netted all 10 of her points on Saturday afternoon in the second half while sophomore guard Maddie Ratcliff came off the bench to score 11 points and passed out three assists. Other double-digit scorers in the last three games include junior forward Alexis Phillips recording a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds at Wheeling Wednesday as well as netting a career-best 16 points in last Saturday's win over Fairmont State. Junior guard Ashton Funderburg added a career-high 16 points at Frostburg State two Wednesdays ago. Earlier this season, CU had just two double-figure scorers in a 56-43 win over Bluefield State. Fitzwater posted 18 points. Ratcliff netted 14 points. Phillips (nine points) and junior guard Jazz Blankenship (eight points) just missed double digits.

PAINT THE TOWN
In its last three wins, CU has had at least 40 points in the paint including scoring 50 from inside the foul line on Saturday versus West Liberty. The Mountain Lions hit just two three-pointers versus WLU, a season-low, but added 20 points from the foul line in the win. The Mountain Lions attempted 46 of their 62 shots for the game inside the paint on West Liberty as they shot 54 percent. Though it scored just 56 points in an early-season win over Bluefield State, Concord tallied 34 points in the paint versus the Big Blues. Concord shot 57 percent in the painted area versus BSC in November. Defensively, the Maroon and Gray limited Bluefield State to 6-of-23 shooting in the paint. Fitzwater (four blocks) and Ratcliff (two) combined for six of CU's eight blocks in the game.

EXTENDING THE STREAK
The Mountain Lions have won 11 straight games over Bluefield State with the Big Blues' last win coming during the 2014-15 season. In its last visit to Ned Shott Gymnasium, Concord eased to a win in November 2019, 75-45. Guynn poured in 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting as she hit all three of her three-point attempts. Fitzwater added 14 point as she was held five rebounds. CU had 11 different scorers in the game. Defensively, the Mountain Lions held Bluefield State to 32.1 percent shooting in the contest. Earlier this season, Concord took control of the game against BSC in the middle two quarters as it held its Mercer Country rival to 13 combined across the second and third quarters while scoring 29 of its own points. Like on Saturday, Robinson set the tone defensively versus Bluefield State in November. She had just six points, but came up with a season-best four steals. As a team, Concord held BSC to 23.2 percent shooting, a season low for any Concord opponents.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
3- Concord will look to snap a brief three-game losing streak in road games.

3- Double-doubles for Fitzwater in eight career games versus Bluefield State.

13- Times that Concord has shot at least 75 percent from the free-throw line this season, including four times in the last five games.

BLUEFIELD STATE AT A GLANCE
Since a 1-12 start to the season, the Big Blues are 2-3 in their last five games as they picked up wins over Washington Adventist and Central State. Monday night will be just the seventh home game of the season for Bluefield State. Along with Concord, BSC has played two other MEC foes, Davis & Elkins and West Liberty as it only lost to Davis & Elkins by three points. Alexus Tucker scores 12 points per game and adds 3.6 rebounds per contest. Dani Janutolo averages just under 10 points per game.