Concord Comes Up Short Against West Virginia State

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team dropped its Mountain East Conference home opener to West Virginia State, 70-63, Tuesday afternoon inside the Carter Center.
 
The Mountain Lions (3-3, 1-1 MEC) were able to build a first half lead, but WVSU (5-0, 2-0 MEC) scored 27 points in the third quarter to complete the comeback.
 
Trailing by as many as 13 points in the fourth, CU would not go away easily. With just under three minutes to play, junior forward Imani Hickman found the net on a layup that brought the score within single digits, 66-58. Following another layup from Hickman, graduate forward Trina Lewis swished a three-pointer off a Yellow Jackets turnover to trail by three, 66-63, with 56 seconds on the clock.
 
However, CU would not get any closer as West Virginia State closed out the game.
 
Concord faced a slow start, falling into a 9-2 hole through the first five minutes of the game. Then, a 10-1 scoring run over the span of three minutes shot the Mountain Lions ahead, 12-10. Seven different player contributed points for the Maroon and Gray in the opening frame to carry a 16-13 lead into the second quarter.
 
Lewis converted a three-point play to begin the second period, giving the Mountain Lions a 19-14 advantage. After forcing a Yellow Jackets turnover, Hickman buried a three-pointer that grew the margin to seven, 24-17, at the 6:32 mark. Later in the frame, junior guard Kalyn Williams went coast-to-coast off a steal to give Concord its largest lead of the evening, 29-17, with just over two minutes on the second-quarter clock.
 
Holding a 32-25 lead at halftime, CU was unable to carry the momentum into the third quarter as West Virginia State outscored the Mountain Lions by 16 points in the third.
 
Hickman finished as Concord's leading scorer with 15 points. Lewis logged a new career-high 14 points, and sophomore forward Abbie Smith scored 11 points. Both Hickman (11 rebounds) and Smith (13 rebounds) finished with double-doubles. Williams posted a career-best five steals defensively.
 
The Mountain Lions face nationally-ranked, eighth-rated Tampa in the first game of the Tampa Thanksgiving Tournament Friday at 7:00 p.m.