Concord Gears Up for Home Game with UVa.-Wise, Road Contest Against Charleston

Concord Stats - UVa.-Wise Stats - Charleston Stats - Live Stats - Live Video

ATHENS, W.V.a. - The Concord University women's basketball team concludes a two-game homestand against UVa.-Wise in a non-conference matchup 2:00 p.m. Monday before resuming Mountain East Conference play 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Charleston.

LIVE COVERAGE
Both the Concord and Charleston Sports Information Departments will have live in-game statistics and live video of the games. 

Live Stats
Live Video

SERIES HISTORY vs. UVa.-Wise: Concord leads 11-7
SERIES HISTORY vs. Charleston: UC leads 43-15

LAST FIVE MEETINGS AGAINST UVA.-WISE
January 10, 2022: Concord 70 - UVa.-Wise 56 (Wise, Va.)
November 14, 2019: UVa.-Wise 87 - Concord 81 (Athens, W.Va.)
March 7, 2019: Concord 76 - UVa.-Wise 62 (Wheeling, W.Va.)
March 2, 2019: Concord 75 - UVa.-Wise 65 (Wise, Va.)
January 26, 2019: Concord 73 - UVa.-Wise 67 (Athens, W.Va.)

LAST FIVE MEETINGS AGAINST CHARLESTON
November 19, 2022: #15 Charleston 72 - Concord 57 (Athens, W.Va.)
January 19, 2022: Charleston 81 - Concord 67 (Athens, W.Va.)
November 20, 2021: Charleston 77 - Concord 69 (Charleston, W.Va.)
February 20, 2021: Concord 59 - #3 Charleston 54 (Athens, W.Va.)
January 7, 2021: Charleston 69 - Concord 56 (Charleston, W.Va.)

BOUNCE BACK
After a tough road loss at West Virginia Wesleyan this past Wednesday, CU rebounded with an important victory over Davis & Elkins Saturday afternoon, 72-59. Defensively, the Mountain Lions were stifling in the contest as it held D&E to 34.7 percent shooting and forced 23 turnovers. The 59 points were the second-fewest allowed by Concord this season, and the least since giving up 44 in a 55-44 win over Clarion to start the season. Saturday marked the third time that CU limited the opposition to less than 35 percent shooting. Included in the defensive effort was the Maroon and Gray holding Davis & Elkins to 21.8 percent shooting in the first half.

BEST OF THE BEST
Concord's active leading scoring, graduate guard Maggie Guynn, stepped to the forefront Saturday afternoon with her best game of the season. The Pearisburg, Virginia native dropped in a season-best 22 points as she made three three-pointers and went 9-for-9 at the foul line. With Saturday's performance, Guynn moved past Kama Shaar for ninth place on CU's all-time scoring list as she now has 1,370 career points. With five three-pointers over her last two games, Guynn is now within three triples of 150 for her career. She would become the seventh player in program history to reach the milestone. Guynn's performance at the foul line were the most makes for a Concord player since Guynn last year at home versus Charleston when she went 11-for-12.

SUPPLEMENTAL SCORING
Guynn was one of three players to finish in double figures Saturday afternoon as junior guard Nakaila Gray came off the bench with 13 points. Freshman forward Abbie Smith contributed 10 points as she just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Gray finished one point off her career high that was established last year at Alderson Broaddus. Meanwhile, Smith scored six of her 10 points at the foul line as she made 6-of-7 free throws, the most for the Little Hocking, Ohio native early in her career. Junior guard Jaisah Smith threw in eight points and tied her season high in rebounds (seven) versus the Senators Saturday afternoon.

WINNING VERSUS WISE
The Mountain Lions have won six of the last seven meetings versus UVa.-Wise dating back to the 2017-18 season as the Cavaliers only win in the span came at the Carter Center in November 2019, 87-81. Senior guard Jazz Blankenship helped guide Concord to a road win last January at the Prior Center with a career-best 25 points as CU grabbed a 70-56 victory. Blankenship made Concord's only four three-pointers of the game and went 7-for-7 at the foul line as part of her performance. Junior guard Maddie Ratcliff notched eight points and five assists. Ratcliff tallied five assists on Wednesday at West Virginia Wesleyan. Guynn is averaging 11.2 points per game in five career contests versus UVa.-Wise, including 21 points on the road as a freshman in March 2019.

THE COACHING TREE
Monday's matinee will be a matchup of former assistant coaches under longtime and now retired CU coach Kenny Osborne. Former Mountain Lions standout and CU Hall of Fame member Jamie Cluesman is in her fifth year guiding the Cavaliers program. Head coach Tesla Southcott preceded Cluesman on the CU bench beginning in the fall of 2014. Monday's game will be the first contest that Cluesman and Southcott got head-to-head as head coaches. Cluesman is 1-4 in her coaching career against her alma mater. Monday will also be a matchup of former high school teammates at Pulaski in Virginia: Ratcliff and UVa.-Wise's Allyson Fleenor.

FOUL LINE FRENZY
Wednesday's game showcases two of the best foul shooting teams in the MEC with both teams in the top four. Charleston is second (73.6 percent) while Concord is fourth (72.7). CU has shot 80 percent or better at the foul line in each of the last two games. The Mountain Lions are getting to the foul line an average of 22 times per game, but is coming off their most made free throws of the season (27). Saturday tied the most attempts for Concord this season (32). Against UC in November, the Maroon and Gray was 21-of-28 at the free-throw stripe as J. Smith went 6-for-6 while Guynn was 5-of-6. Charleston is attempting 17.3 free throws per game. UC's Trinity Palacio leads the MEC in foul shooting (83.6). Concord's J. Smith (81.3) and A. Smith (79.2) are fourth and fifth. Charleston's Markyia McCormick (77.0) is sixth in the MEC in foul shooting while Guynn (76.7) is eighth.

FIND THE SHOOTERS
The Mountain Lions are allowing teams to shoot 34.3 percent from three-point range this season, but has held five of the last seven teams to 30 percent or less from beyond the arc. Concord held Davis & Elkins without a three-pointer for the first three quarters Saturday before D&E hit three in the final period. Charleston has the best team three-point percentage in the MEC (37.3) and the second-best three-point shooter in the MEC in Dakota Reeves as she is hitting 43.7 percent from deep. However, CU has held Reeves to 4-for-16 from three-point range in the last three games. As a team, Charleston went 7-of-20 from three-point range in November at the Carter Center.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2.2- Rebounding margin for Concord, second best in the MEC.

78- Career wins for Guynn in a CU uniform which is third in program history behind Cluesman (84) and Riley Fitzwater (86).

655- Career assists for Cluesman during her career at Concord from 2003-08, most in program history.

UVA.-WISE AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 11-6
SAC Record: 3-4
Home Record: 5-3
Away Record: 4-3
Neutral Record: 2-0

SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS
UVa.-Wise is coming off a tough 77-63 loss to Catawba on Saturday, but the Cavaliers are still one win away from matching last year's 12-16 campaign. The Cavaliers have one of the best point guards in the Division II in Caitlyn Ross who averages 10 points and eight assists per game. Nia Vanzant leads the Cavaliers in scoring with 15.5 points per game. Six of the 11 wins for UVa.-Wise have come away from home, including a 69-58 win in Mercer County against Bluefield State January 7.

CHARLESTON AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 13-3
MEC Record: 8-2
Home Record: 7-0
Away Record: 6-3

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
UC rebounded from a Wednesday loss at Alderson Broaddus as it coasted past Notre Dame Saturday at home. The Golden Eagles are 9-1 in their last 10 home games with the only loss coming against Glenville State at the end of last season. The backcourt of Palacio (15.3), McCormick (12.4) and Reeves (11.7) combine for 39.4 points per game. No one averages more than 4.8 rebounds per game for UC, but Charleston has the second-best rebounding margin in the MEC (3.2).