ATHENS, W.Va. - Coming off a 70-63 win over Bluefield State, the Concord University women's basketball team plays host to West Virginia Wesleyan in a Mountain East Conference game at the Carter Center 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department will have live in-game statistics and live streaming video of Wednesday's contest.Â
Live Stats
Live Video
SERIES HISTORY: Concord leads 26-18
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
January 11, 2023: West Virginia Wesleyan 70 - Concord 58 (Buckhannon, W.Va.)
February 16, 2022: Concord 73 - West Virginia Wesleyan 61 (Buckhannon, W.Va.)
January 12, 2022: Concord 65 - West Virginia Wesleyan 53 (Athens, W.Va.)
February 24, 2021: West Virginia Wesleyan 67 - Concord 56 (Buckhannon, W.Va.)
January 13, 2021: Concord 74 - West Virginia Wesleyan 61 (Athens, W.Va.)
CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 10-14
MEC Record: 7-11
Home Record: 6-4
Away Record: 3-9
Neutral Record: 1-1
DEFENSIVE MINDSET
The Mountain Lions limited Bluefield State to 29.3 percent shooting in Monday's game as it split the season series with the Big Blues. Monday's contest marked the 15
th time this season that CU has held a team below 45 percent, and nine of Concord's 10 wins have come this season when it holds the opposition below 45 percent shooting. Earlier this season, the Mountain Lions allowed West Virginia Wesleyan to shoot 51 percent from the field in a 70-58 win for the Bobcats. Last season in CU's 65-53 victory, the Maroon and Gray held WVWC to 35.7 percent shooting. For the season, Concord holds teams to 40.9 percent shooting, sixth in the conference, while Wesleyan shoots 37.3 percent, 12
th in the MEC.
EVERYBODY REBOUNDS
Along with the defensive success versus Bluefield State, the Mountain Lions held a comfortable 50-37 rebounding edge. For the sixth time this season, junior guard
Jaisah Smith either tied for the team lead or outright had the most boards for Concord as she ripped down eight versus BSU. CU was evenly distributed in rebounding Monday night as graduate forward
Alexis Phillips and freshman forward
Abbie Smith each had seven rebounds. Junior guard
Nakaila Gray chipped in five rebounds. Over J. Smith's last six games, the Bluefield, West Virginia native is averaging 6.8 rebounds per game, nearly two more than her season average. Wednesday's game will feature two of the best rebounding guards in the MEC in West Virginia Wesleyan's Emma Witt (6.4 per game) and Smith (5.0). Overall, both are top 25 in the league in boards.
CLOSE EM OUT
Ten of the final 14 points for Concord came at the foul line versus Bluefield State as CU was able to secure a 13-for-15 showing at the charity stripe in the fourth quarter, and went 22-for-25 on free throws for the game (88 percent). It was the highest free-throw shooting night for Concord of the season when attempting at least 20 foul shots. Graduate guard
Maggie Guynn hit on 10-of-12 free throws as she went over 1,500 career points on a first-half three-pointer. Guynn's 10 makes at the charity strip were the most for a Concord player this winter. Additionally, Guynn jumped into the top five of the MEC in free throw shooting as the Pearisburg, Virginia native is making 81.8 percent at the line, fourth in the conference. Monday marked the second time in the last two home games that CU has gone 13-of-15 at the foul line in the fourth quarter after doing the same versus Wheeling last week.
RAPID PRODUCTION
In the 12-point loss at West Virginia Wesleyan in January, A. Smith posted 21 points in just 25 minutes as she finished 9-of-11 from the field. The only other player in double figures was Guynn who had 10 points, including two three-pointers. Guynn had gone five straight games without netting at least 10 points heading into the road game, but since the WVWC contest has hit for 15 or more points eight times in the last 11 games. J. Smith was held to five points by the Bobcats, but has put together seven games of 10 or more points since January 11. Guynn tossed in a game-best 19 points in last year's home win over Wesleyan on 6-of-10 shooting.
SLOW AND STEADY
As one of the highest scoring conferences in Division II, Concord and West Virginia Wesleyan have proven their tough defenses this season in the MEC. The Mountain Lions are fifth in the MEC in points allowed per game as they give up 72 per game. Meanwhile, WVWC is one of four teams in the conference holding teams under 70 points as they allow 69.6 points per game. Over the last six meetings, the winner has not scored more than 74 points. The last time either team scored more than 75 on the other was February 2019 in Concord's 76-67 road win against the Bobcats. And of note, current CU assistant coach
Madison Heller scored 30 in an 88-68 road victory for CU December 2017.
ONE AND DONE
Wednesday night will be a meeting of two of the best offensive rebounding teams in the MEC. The Mountain Lions grab an average of 13.8 offensive rebounds per game, third in the MEC. Wesleyan rounds out the top five in the conference in offensive boards with 13.0 per contest. CU has hauled in at least 10 offensive rebounds in 21 of 24 games this season. In January, the Maroon and Gray collected 12 offensive rebounds while Wesleyan was held to six. Senior forward
Lauryn Avery, junior guard
Maddie Ratcliff and Phillips all had two offensive rebounds. CU's rebounding margin for the season is +4.6, second in the MEC, while Wesleyan is essentially even in rebounding, -0.1.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
12- Average margin of score in the last five games between CU and Wesleyan.
56- Points needed by Guynn to move into eighth on the all-time scoring list at Concord.
72.7- Free-throw percentage for Concord, fourth in the MEC, compared to 61.1 for WVWC, 11
th in the conference.
WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 4-17
MEC Record: 3-15
Home Record: 3-8
Away Record: 1-9
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
West Virginia Wesleyan enters Wednesday night two games back of Davis & Elkins, Frostburg State and Notre Dame for the final MEC postseason spot. Shelby Genes hit for a career-best 28 points against Concord in January as she made six three-pointers in the game. Witt added 11 points, but averages 15 points per game. The Bobcats have not won at Concord since January 2014, a string of eight straight losses. Courtney Wilfong is eighth in the MEC in assists per game (3.3) and had seven versus CU in January.
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