ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team closed out its 2024 portion of the schedule with a 23-point win,92-69, over Mountain East Conference opponent Fairmont State at the Carter Center Sunday afternoon.
After going into the halftime break ahead 36-34, the Mountain Lions (5-7, 2-3 MEC) exploded in the third quarter to build a double-digit lead.
Senior guard
Sanaiya Morris hit a three-pointer at the 7:11 mark to push the advantage to five, 44-39. Later in the period, junior forward
Abbie Smith made a pair of free throws and graduate forward
Trina Lewis followed with a jumper on the next possession to grab a 50-39 advantage with 4:13 on the clock.
CU pushed the margin to as many as 15, but carried a 59-46 advantage into the final 10 minutes of action after senior guard
Skylar Davidson added a pair of free throws and Smith found junior forward
Imani Hickman with six seconds to play in the third quarter.
Senior guard
Faith Diggs wasted no time, scoring a layup nine seconds into the fourth quarter that brought the edge back to 15. Sophomore guard
Madison Young buried one of her three three-point baskets with 8:20 remaining to lead 65-49. Junior guard
Kennedy Scales connected on a three-pointer the following possession to grow the advantage to 19 with 7:56 to play.
Two free throws each from Smith and Diggs, as well as a layup from Morris, gave Concord its largest advantage of the contest, 81-57, with just over four minutes left. Morris tacked on another three-pointer later in the frame as the Maroon and Gray collected their second-straight home victory over Fairmont State (8-3, 4-2 MEC).
CU scored the game's first six points as Smith, Morris, and Lewis converted layups to grab an early lead. The Fighting Falcons got hot in the final five minutes of the quarter, holding a 21-14 edge heading into the second period.
Concord got within three, 23-20, at the 6:29 mark before Young's first three-pointer of the game knotted the score with six minutes left until the halftime break. Young sunk another long-range basket to grow CU's advantage to five, 30-25. However, a late layup from Fairmont State saw the Mountain Lions lead 36-34 at halftime.
Smith scored a game-high 21 points and added 11 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the winter while making all nine free throws she attempted. Morris (17) and Davidson (15) also scored in double figures and made two three-pointers each. Hickman (11) and Scales (10) rounded out the Maroon and Gray's first game with five double-digit scorers this season. Davidson dished out seven assists while Smith swatted a season-best four blocks.
The Mountain Lions return from the holiday break to host West Virginia Wesleyan January 8 at 5:30 p.m.
