ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University women's basketball team plays its first of two home games this week when it welcomes West Virginia State to the Carter Center 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in a Mountain East Conference matchup.
LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department will provide live statistics and video for the game.Â
Live Stats
Live Video
SERIES HISTORY: Concord leads 34-21
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
November 22, 2022: West Virginia State 95 - Concord 70 (Institute, W.Va.)
February 23, 2022: Concord 101 - West Virginia State 95 (OT) (Institute, W.Va.)
November 23, 2021: Concord 75 - West Virginia State 69 (Athens, W.Va.)
February 17, 2021: Concord 104 - West Virginia State 93 (Insititute, W.Va.)
January 10, 2021: Concord 70 - West Virginia State 67 (Athens, W.Va.)
LIGHT IT UP
Senior guard
Jazz Blankenship came off the bench to help lead the Mountain Lions past Davis & Elkins on Saturday afternoon, 69-59. The Lester, West Virginia native drained a career-high five three-pointers on her way to a season-high 17 points. Blankenship tied former teammate Keely Lundy for 10
th on the all-time three-point list at Concord after Saturday's performance with 114. While Blankenship established the early offense for CU, junior guard
Jaisah Smith helped close out Saturday's win as she went 6-for-8 at the foul line in the final 2:14 of the game, and was 8-for-10 at the charity stripe overall. Smith is sixth in the MEC in free-throw percentage (78.0 / 85-of-109) while graduate guard
Maggie Guynn is fourth (79.5 / 70-for-88). Freshman forward
Abbie Smith is eighth in conference in free-throw shooting (77.6 / 76-for-98).
LOCKED IN
With Saturday's win and Frostburg State's loss at Wheeling, Concord has secured the seven seed in the upcoming MEC Tournament. The Mountain Lions will play at 12:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 1 at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling. CU's opponent is still very much up in the air as eight through twelve in the conference standings are only separated by two games. While Concord can't be caught for the seventh seed, the Maroon and Gray can't climb any higher in the standings either—CU is three game behind Wheeling for the sixth seed heading into the final two games of the regular season. Concord enters the week having gone 7-6 in its last 13 games after a 4-9 start to the year.
LOCK EM DOWN
CU shot slightly better from three-point range Saturday at Davis & Elkins than it did from the field overall, 38.9-37.3. However, Concord's defense was stifling on the road as it limited the Senators to 35.6 percent shooting in their own gym. It marked the 10
th time this winter that the Mountain Lions have held a team to below 40 percent shooting, and CU is 7-3 in those games. Both Concord and West Virginia State are similar in field-goal defense with WVSU ranking fifth in the conference (40.6) while the Mountain Lions are sixth (40.7). Likewise, both shoot teams shoot 39 percent on the season with CU checking in at 39.6 and West Virginia State at 39.3.
GO GET IT
The Mountain Lions not only face the best rebounding team in the MEC, but one of the best rebounding teams in Division II when the Yellow Jackets visit Wednesday. WVSU's rebounding margin of 8.0 leads the conference and is tied for 12
th nationally. But, Concord has the second-best rebounding margin in the MEC (+4.2) despite getting outrebounded 34-30 Saturday afternoon. Earlier this season, CU held a 45-40 edge on the boards at West Virginia State—just one of five times that the Yellow Jackets have been outrebounded in 2022-23. A. Smith just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds in a 95-70 loss November 22. Guynn pulled down a season-best seven rebounds to go with 17 points. And J. Smith tossed in six rebounds.
IN THE MIDDLE
Though losing in November, Concord has had success versus West Virginia State's fast-paced, high-pressure style as it had previously won six straight over the Yellow Jackets before the early season setback. Guynn has been at the forefront of that success. Last time the Pearisburg, Virginia native faced off against WVSU in the Carter Center, she netted a career-high 31 points in a November 2021 75-69 win. Guynn is averaging 19.0 points per game in nine career contests versus the Yellow Jackets, and has five games of 20 or more points. The scoring for Guynn against WVSU has come predominately on two-point jumpers as she has only sank 12 three-pointers in those games. In two wins versus West Virginia State last season, CU scored 54 and 40 points in the paint, but was limited to 28 points in the paint in November.
DOWN TO THE WIRE
Before WVSU's win in November, four of the previous six meetings between Concord and the Yellow Jackets had been decided by 10 points or less. While Guynn paced last year's home win over West Virginia State, the Mountain Lions were much more balanced in a 101-95 overtime win last February. J. Smith posted 19 points and seven assists. Guynn dropped in 16 points on 5-for-7 shooting. Blankenship tossed in 13 points while junior guard
Maddie Ratcliff added 11 points off the bench. During the 2021 season, CU collected 104-93 and 70-67 wins over WVSU. On the road, Guynn went for 27 points while Ratcliff had another big game off the bench with 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting. In five career games, Ratcliff is averaging 10 points per game versus West Virginia State.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
12- Turnovers for Concord at Davis & Elkins which tied a season low
38.3- Combined offensive rebounds per game for CU (13.8) and West Virginia State (24.5).
72.1- Free-throw shooting percentage for Concord, sixth in the MEC, while WVSU is first (73.6).
WEST VIRGINIA STATE AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 21-4
MEC Record: 16-4
Home Record: 13-2
Away Record: 8-2
SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
West Virginia State is still very much in the hunt for the regular season title in the MEC as it is two games back of Glenville State to start the week. Head coach Charles Marshall brings the top scoring team in Division II into the Carter Center as the Yellow Jackets post 92.9 points per game. Destiny Fields scores 14.0 points per while Anysa Jordan (13.1) and Shelby Harmeyer (12.0) also score in double figures. ZZ Russell is second in the conference in steals (2.4) and fifth in assists (3.9) while scoring 9.9 points. The Yellow Jackets are second in Division II in steals (15.8).
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