Concord's Fourth-Quarter Comeback Comes Up Short

WHEELING, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team was defeated by Wheeling, 77-72 in a Mountain East Conference matchup Wednesday evening at the Alma Grace McDonough Center.

Wheeling (6-15, 6-11 MEC) led the Mountain Lions (15-9, 9-8 MEC) for entire game.

Trailing by 10 at halftime, Concord came out and sliced the deficit in half to get within five pointers. However, WU went on a 15-4 run and led by as much as 16 points in the third quarter. Concord was only able to get the lead under 10 minutes once in the third period.

Down 67-51 with 6:45 remaining in the game, Concord went on 19-5 run to get back in the game. Sophomore guard Jaisah Smith scored six of her 10 points during the run. Senior guard Maggie Guynn aided the run with two three-pointers, as Concord cut the deficit to 72-68 with 35 seconds left in the game. The Mountain Lions would get a little closer as Guynn hit two free throws to trim the margin to 75-72 with 19 seconds remaining. Forced to foul, Concord watched the Cardinals make two more foul shots in the waning seconds as the Mountain Lions late charge was thwarted.

Guynn finished with a team-high 22 points. Junior forward Alexis Phillips recorded her first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds with six boards on the offensive end. Fifth-year senior forward Riley Fitzwater had 16 points and nine rebounds. Smith rounded out the double-figure scorers with her 10 points.

Junior guard Ashton Funderburg finished with seven rebounds and three steals.

CU had a slight rebounding edge as it outboarded the Cardinals 39-36.

Wheeling's Shanley Woods led all scorers with 31 points.

The Mountain Lions return home to face West Liberty 2:00 p.m. Saturday at the Carter Center.