Concord Outlasted in High-Scoring Affair at West Liberty

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team scored a season-high in points, but fell short 110-103 to West Liberty in a Mountain East Conference game held at the ASRC Saturday afternoon.
 
CU (15-11, 10-8 MEC) got on the board first with a midrange jumper from freshman guard Ana Young. On the next possession, Young added a three-pointer to give Concord a 5-0 start. After leading 9-8 at the six-minute mark of the first quarter, sophomore forward Abbie Smith scored seven straight points for the Mountain Lions.
 
 Junior guard/forward Deja Atkinson and graduate guard Jazz Blankenship hit three-point baskets at the close of the frame, but West Liberty (9-17, 6-12 MEC) had the upper hand, 30-24, at the end of the first quarter.
 
Graduate guard Nakaila Gray knocked down a three-point basket to start the second quarter and close the WLU gap to three, 30-27. And junior guard Skylar Davidson added a pair of free throws, while Smith found the net on a layup to give the Mountain Lions the lead, 33-30, with 7:52 remaining until halftime.
 
At the 5:41 mark, Atkinson made back-to-back three-pointers as CU grabbed its biggest lead to that point, 42-36. A late WLU charge saw the Hilltoppers lead 54-51 at halftime.
 
The Mountain Lions knotted the score 58-58 at the start of the third quarter with a three-point play from Smith and a layup from Davidson. Despite tying the game early in the quarter, CU would never lead in the frame and West Liberty opened up a double-digit lead heading into the fourth quarter, 79-65.
 
Davidson (11) and Smith (10) both scored in double figures as part of a 38-point fourth quarter, bringing Concord within six points with under a minute left in the game. West Liberty held off the late CU charge, downing the Mountain Lions 110-103.
 
Smith scored a career-best 30 points on 12-for-19 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds for her team-leading 11^th double-double. Davidson also netted a new career-high in scoring, posting 25 points and nearing a triple-double with nine assists and eight rebounds.
 
Six Mountain Lions scored in double figures for the first time this season and the third-straight game with at least five double-digit scorers. Atkinson (16), Gray (11), Young (10), and Blankenship (10) all added at least 10 points.
 
While scoring a season-high 103 points in the game, Concord shot 46.3 percent from the floor and knocked down a season-best nine three pointers.
 
CU returns home one last time, hosting West Virginia State in the regular season home finale at the Carter Center Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.