ELKINS, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team stymied Davis & Elkins in a 69-59 win Saturday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference game at the McDonnell Center.
Leading 14-13 near the end of the first quarter, the Mountain Lions (11-15, 8-12 MEC) held D&E scoreless over the final 2:13 of the opening 10 minutes to gain a 20-13 edge. The early offense was paced by senior guard
Jazz Blankenship who hit three three-pointers off the bench, and freshman forward
Abbie Smith. The duo combined for 17 of the first 20 points.
Despite only making three shots in the second quarter, CU was able to keep the Senators from taking the lead as it held a 31-26 halftime advantage.
Out of the locker room, Concord turned up the heat on the Senators as it shot 63.6 percent in the third quarter while holding Davis & Elkins to 33.3 percent. Holding onto a 42-38 edge after a D&E bucket at the 4:07 mark, CU ran off an 11-4 run to swell the advantage to 53-42. The Senators answered with a three-pointer ahead of the third-quarter buzzer.
Back-to-back buckets from Blankenship to start the fourth took the lead to 58-45. Blankenship rang in her sixth three-pointer of the afternoon at the 8:25 mark giving Concord a 61-47 margin.
Davis & Elkins was only able to get as close as nine points for the remainder of the game.
Blankenship scored 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting and buried six of her nine three-point attempts. With the early surge, Smith finished with 12 point and seven rebounds. Junior guard
Jaisah Smith came off the bench with 11 points on an 8-of-10 showing at the foul line. Graduate guard
Maggie Guynn netted nine points.
Junior guard
Maddie Ratcliff passed out seven assists and added six poi nts.
CU held Davis & Elkins to 35.6 percent shooting for the game.
The Mountain Lions finish the regular season at home with consecutive home games, first with West Virginia State 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Â
