ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University women's basketball team heads on the road to face Wheeling 5:30 p.m. Wednesday before returning to the Carter Center to host West Liberty 2:00 p.m. Saturday in a pair of Mountain East Conference games.
LIVE COVERAGE
Stats: Live in-game statistics will be available for the games this week through the Concord and Wheeling Sports Information Departments.Â
Video: Live streaming video will also be provided for the contest.Â
RECORDS
Concord is off of an 89-81 win over Fairmont State to improve to 15-8 this season and 9-7 in the MEC.
Wheeling has won all five of its games in the league with a mark of 5-15 overall and is 5-11 versus conference foes.
West Liberty has a mark of 16-6 and is 11-5 in MEC games.
RETURN TO FORM
The Mountain Lions welcomed back fifth-year senior
Riley Fitzwater, junior forward
Alexis Phillips and senior guard
Gracie Robinson to the floor on Saturday afternoon after the trio had missed the previously three games. Fitzwater made her return by notching a double-double of 23 points and 15 rebound as she shot 9-of-10 from the field and 5-of-6 at the foul line. It was Fitzwater's 75
th career double-double. Meanwhile, Phillips saw the floor for 18 minutes as she netted a career-best 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting while hitting all six free throws she attempted. In just her second game back in the lineup, senior guard
Maggie Guynn scored 11 points after being held scoreless at Frostburg State. Guynn moved into 14
th on the all-time scoring list at CU with Saturday's performance as she now has 1,140 career points. Additionally, Fitzwater went over 1,900 career points Saturday afternoon, one of two players in program history to accomplish the feat.
OFFENSIVE OUTBURST
After being held to 30 points in the first half against Fairmont State, CU shot better than 65 percent from the field in both the third and fourth quarters of Saturday's win. Concord tallied a season-high for points in a half with 59 after halftime versus the Fighting Falcons, eclipsing the previous high set at 58 in a first-half outburst against Wheeling at the Carter Center in January. By shooting 67.8 percent in the second half against FSU, it marked the first time that the Mountain Lions shot 65 percent in the second half of a game since shooting 68.7 percent in an upset against Glenville State last season at home. The 89 points came with CU only hitting two three-pointers in the game, a season-low. However, it countered with 48 paint points and a 23-for-27 showing at the foul line.
HELPING HAND
For the seventh time this season, the Mountain Lions had 20 assists in game as it passed out 20 assists on 32 made shots against Fairmont State. CU is 5-2 this season when it has at least 20 assists and 11-3 when it records 15 or more assists. Though it had 20 assists versus Fairmont State, no player had more than three assists as junior guards
Jazz Blankenship and Funderburg and sophomore guards
Maddie Ratcliff and
Jaisah Smith all had three assists Saturday. CU is third in the MEC in assists per game with 15.2, but no player is in the top 15 in assists per game in the conference. Earlier this season, CU just missed the 20-assist mark with 18 versus Wheeling as Blankenship led the way with five. Additionally, in her last four games as Concord's starting point guard Funderburg has 11 assists to just four turnovers.
BEST IN THE TRADE
To begin the week, Fitzwater leads Division II in field-goal percentage (71.3) and blocks per game (3.4). She also ranks seventh in the country in rebounding with 12.3 per contest. And her 13 double-doubles this season are tied for sixth in Division II. However, Concord will run up against two of the best opposing players in the conference this week. Wheeling's Lauren Calhoun is 14
th in Division II in scoring with 20.4 points per game. She's one off Fitzwater's double-double pace this season and has two 20-20 games. Earlier this season, Fitzwater had 15 points and nine rebounds in just 20 minutes versus Wheeling while Calhoun had 21 points and eight boards, but needed 17 shots to score 21 points. West Liberty guard Audrey Tingle has four triple-doubles this season while the rest of Division II has seven combined. Tingle is second in Division II in assists per game with seven and among guards her 10.5 rebounds are fourth in Division II. Fitzwater had season-bests in points (31) and rebounds (19) in CU's win at West Liberty. Tingle had a triple-double of 15 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists against Concord in January. In a 68-56 Concord win last January at the Carter Center, Funderburg and Robinson held Tingle to a single point and turned her over eight times.
SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE
Concord and West Liberty are among the top two offenses in the MEC as both shoot at least 44 percent from the floor this season. West Liberty's 45.2 percent is second in the league and ranks 21
st in Division II. Meanwhile, the Mountain Lions are shooting 44.1 percent in the conference this season which is fourth best. However, CU and WLU rank first and second in the MEC in field-goal defense with Concord's 37.0 mark leading the way followed by West Liberty's 37.5 defensive percentage. Both teams are among a group of four teams in the MEC allowing less than 70 points per game. WLU gives up 68.1 points per game and Concord allows 68.8. Earlier this season, Concord shot 54.2 percent from the field at West Liberty while holding the Hilltoppers to 37.3 percent in the seven-point win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
21- Rebounding margin for Concord (48-27) in the January win over West Liberty.
48- Points in the paint for Concord versus Wheeling in January, the same number in Saturday's win over Fairmont State.
87.5- Free-throw percentage (28-for-32) for Fitzwater, Funderburg and Phillips in the final three minutes of games this season.
WHEELING AT A GLANCE
Calhoun is the only player that averages double figures for the Cardinals. Shamia Strayhorn scores 9.9 points per game and Shanley Woods averages 9.1 points per game. Wheeling has defeated Concord at the McDonough Center two straight years. WU held the Mountain Lions to 35.4 percent shooting in last year's 69-60 win. One of the best freshmen in the MEC, Strayhorn, adds four assists per game to her scoring. Wheeling has won just one game at home this year, going 1-7, but lost a tight battle to West Virginia Stat and fell in double overtime to Charleston. The lone win was at the beginning of December over West Virginia Wesleyan.
WEST LIBERTY AT A GLANCE
The high-powered West Liberty offense that averages 81.5 points per game has five players that score at least 12 points per game. Corinne Thomas, who dropped in 32 points on CU in January, leads the way with 14.8 points per game. Another top freshman in the MEC, Bailee Smith, scores 14.5 points per game. Tingle follows with 13.3 points per game. Karly McCutcheon scores 12.9 and Arrianna Manzy nets 12.7 points per game. The Hilltoppers are coming off a 78-77 win over Charleston on the road Saturday.
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