Concord Stats -
Wheeling Stats -
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Complete Game Notes
ATHENS, W. Va. - The Concord University women's basketball team looks to bounce back from a loss at Fairmont State when it hosts Wheeling 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in a Mountain East Conference clash at the Carter Center.
LIVE COVERAGE
The Concord University Sports Information Department will have live in-game statistics and live video of the Wednesday's game.Â
Live Stats
Live Video
SERIES HISTORY: Wheeling 29-11
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
January 7, 2023: Wheeling 93 - Concord 52 (Wheeling, W.Va.)
February 9, 2022: Wheeling 77 - Concord 72 (Wheeling, W.Va.)
January 8, 2022: Concord 83 - Wheeling 66 (Athens, W.Va.)
March 4, 2021: Wheeling 77 - Concord 72 (Wheeling, W.Va.)
February 1, 2021: Wheeling 69 - Concord 60 (Wheeling, W.Va.)
CONCORD AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 8-13
MEC Record: 10-6
Home Record: 4-4
Away Record: 3-8
Neutral Record: 1-1
PAINT PRODUCTION
Concord tallied 50 points in the paint at Fairmont State which was a season high, surpassing the 44 points that it posted at Emory & Henry January 2. Freshman forward
Abbie Smith scored 20 points of the 50 in the paint as she finished one point shy of her career high with 24 total points to go with 13 rebounds for her sixth career double-double. Junior guard
Jaisah Smith finished 5-of-8 in the paint versus Fairmont State as she scored 18 points for the second straight game to tie a season high. A. Smith also tied her career high in blocks with four as her presence limited Fairmont State to 30 points in the paint.
HELPING HAND
Senior guard
Ashton Funderburg and junior guard
Nakaila Gray accounted for more than half of CU's assists Saturday—seven of 12. Funderburg dished out a season-best four assists while Gray finished two shy of her season high with three assists. Funderburg has notched two or more assists in six of the last seven games, and six of the eight wins for the Mountain Lions have come this season when the Sevierville, Tennessee native has at least two assists. Over the last five games, Concord is averaging 17.4 assists per game, including back-to-back games with 20 or more in wins over Notre Dame and Alderson Broaddus to close January. J. Smith is 12
th in the conference with 2.6 assists per game.
BOARD BATTLE
CU was able to control Fairmont State on the boards as it held a 44-35 advantage in rebounds. A. Smith paced the effort with her 13 while graduate forward
Alexis Phillips threw in six, and Gray five. Saturday marked the 11
th time this season that Phillips has collected at least six rebounds in a game—the same number of times she had six or more boards in 31 games in 2021-22. When Concord faced Wheeling earlier this season, the Cardinals outrebounded CU 41-38. However, for the season the Mountain Lions have a better rebounding margin than WU. Both teams are in the top five of the MEC in rebounding as the Maroon and Gray checks in third (+3.8) while Wheeling is fifth (+1.4).
HOME COURT FEEL
The home team has won the last three meetings between Concord and Wheeling with the Cardinals picking up a 93-52 win over CU January 7. Last January, the Mountain Lions earned an 83-66 win over WU as it scored 58 points in the first half. J. Smith went for 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting while senior guard
Jazz Blankenship canned three three-pointers on her way to 15 points. Phillips added seven points and nine rebounds versus the Cardinals. Wheeling won 77-72 over Concord in February 2022. Since the start of the 2017-18 season, the home team in the series is 8-1 with the only road victory coming for CU during the 2018-19 season. The Cardinals did knock Concord out of the MEC Tournament in 2021 in a neutral meeting.
POST POSITION
Going back to the 2019-20 season with Concord's
Riley Fitzwater and former Wheeling standout Lilly Ritz, the matchup between the Mountain Lions and the Cardinals has featured exceptional post play. Wednesday's game will be no different. A. Smith comes into the game averaging 13.0 points per game (16
th in the MEC) and 7.7 rebounds per game (seventh in the MEC). She is averaging 15.7 points per game over the last nine contests. Lauren Calhoun, one of the favorites for MEC Player of the Year, leads the league in rebounding (11.7 per game) and is fourth in the conference in scoring, 18.5. Earlier this season, Calhoun posted 22 points and 11 rebounds versus CU. A. Smith netted 10 points and added four rebounds.
TOUGH CODE TO CRACK
Concord enters Wednesday night having scored 70 or more points in three consecutive games, and has topped 65 points in seven of its last eight games. But, CU faces one of the top defenses in the MEC as the Cardinals only allow 66.5 points per game, second in the league. Wheeling is one of just four teams in the conference holding teams under 40 percent shooting for the season as it ranks second in field-goal defense (37.7). The Mountain Lions were held to 26.6 percent shooting in the first meeting. For the season, Wheeling has only allowed 40 percent or better from the field eight times. However, half of those eight times are in the last five games. The Mountain Lions are 6-2 this season when it holds teams under 40 percent shooting.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2- Number of 20-10 games for A. Smith this season. She had 25 points and 12 rebounds at Bluefield State.
10- The next charge taken by Gray will be her 10
th of the season, a team best.
48- Shooting percentage for Concord in last year's home win over Wheeling.
WHEELING AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 12-10
MEC Record: 10-6
Home Record: 6-6
Away Record: 4-4
Neutral Record: 2-0
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
Wheeling is under first-year head coaches Anna Kowalska, formerly of WVU Tech. She spent three seasons at WVU Tech where she compiled a record of 61-26. Shanley Woods is scoring 10.1 points per game and has made 46 three-pointers this winter. Kenzie Dalton only averages 6.1 points per game, but is second in the MEC in assists (4.4). The lineup of Calhoun, Dalton, Woods, Shamia Strayhorn and Jacqui Hinesmon has started every game together this season. Wheeling is tied for fifth in the MEC standings with Fairmont State.
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