ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team defeated Davis & Elkins, 66-55, Saturday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference game held at the Carter Center.
After holding a 36-33 lead going into the halftime break, Concord (19-9, 12-8 MEC) outscored D&E (6-20, 3-17 MEC) 18-11 in the third quarter and 12-11 in the fourth to steadily separate itself from the Senators.
With eight minutes left in the third quarter, fifth-year senior forward
Riley Fitzwater scored her 14th point of the night on a layup. A steal by senior guard
Gracie Robinson set up a layup for sophomore guard
Jaisah Smith on the other end.
A three-point play opportunity that was converted by junior guard
Jazz Blankenship with 5:50 left in the period was the start of a 10-1 run for the Mountain Lions. Sophomore guard
Maddie Ratcliff followed up Blankenship's three-point play by splashing a three-pointer in the right corner. Ratcliff drilled another triple from beyond the arc two minutes later.
Going back to Fitzwater's layup, Concord outscored Davis & Elkins 18-7 in the final eight minutes of the third quarter to take a 54-44 lead through 30 minutes.
Concord shot 50 percent from the field in the third quarter and 46.2 percent from the field in the second half. The Mountain Lions also made their presence in the paint known, outscoring D&E 40-28 in the painted area. CU also outrebounded the Senators, 47-35.
The Mountain Lions jumped out 13-6 on D&E to start the game, but the seven-point advantage was the largest of the first half for CU.
With a layup with 7:56 left in the first quarter, Fitzwater became the second player in program history to score 2,000 points in her career. Jina Skinner (1989-92) is the program all-time points leader at 2,050.
On Senior Day, Fitzwater and Robinson picked up their 40
th home win the last four seasons.
Fitzwater put up a game-leading 24 points while also grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking three shots. Ratcliff scored 12 points aided by two three-pointers. Smith finished with 11 points and five rebounds. Senior guard
Maggie Guynn ended with four assists and seven boards. Junior forward
Alexis Phillips tallied eight points, six rebounds, three blocks, and a steal.
The Mountain Lions held D&E to 33.3 percent shooting for the game, including less than 30 percent in the second half.
CU travels to Institute, West Virginia to take on West Virginia State Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
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