Balanced Scoring Effort Lifts Concord Past Salem 64-53

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team used four double-figure scorers to defeat Salem 64-53 in a non-conference game held at the Carter Center Saturday afternoon.
 
Following a nine-point lead going into the halftime break, CU (12-10) came out hot in the second half. Graduate guard Jazz Blankenship knocked down a pair of three-pointers to extend the Mountain Lions advantage to 37-22 with just over 30 seconds played in the third quarter.
 
Then, after an offensive rebound and put back at the rim by junior guard/forward Deja Atkinson, Blankenship sunk her third three-point basket of the quarter as Concord grabbed a 16-point edge, 44-28, with 7:01 left in the third. Later in the quarter, Atkinson scored a layup in transition to give CU its biggest lead of the game, 53-36.
 
Graduate forward Alexis Phillips and Atkinson scored eight of CU's 11 points in the fourth quarter as Concord earned its 12^th victory on the season, defeating Salem (4-18) 64-53.
 
Graduate guard Nakaila Gray and Phillips scored the first eight points in the game for the Mountain Lions, giving the Maroon and Gray an 8-6 lead. CU never trailed in the game past the 8:42 mark in the opening quarter. Abbie Smith converted a put back layup in the winding seconds of the quarter as Concord led 18-10.
 
Freshman guard Ana Young's streak of eight straight games with a made three-pointer was kept alive when she connected on a three-pointer with just under two minutes until halftime.
 
Atkinson finished as the leading scorer for the Mountain Lions, netting 11 points on 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Junior guard Skylar Davidson, Blankenship, and Phillips all finished with 10 points. Davidson did a little bit of everything, as she also contributed seven rebounds, five assists, and five steals. Phillips finished one rebound shy of a double-double, grabbing nine boards.
 
Defensively, CU held SU to just 36.6 percent shooting, the third time in the last five games holding teams under 40 percent from the field. The Mountain Lions also forced the Tigers into 28 turnovers on 13 CU steals.
 
Concord hosts West Virginia Wesleyan for a Mountain East Conference matchup at the Carter Center Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.