Concord Clipped by Frostburg State on Last-Second Shot

FROSTBURG, Md. – The Concord University women's basketball team lost 83-81 on the road to Frostburg State in a Mountain East Conference matchup at Bobcat Arena Saturday afternoon.
 
Leading 66-62 after 30 minutes, the Bobcats (12-8, 9-4 MEC) opened up their lead by as much as eight in the early stages of the quarter, but a CU (10-9, 7-6 MEC) run brought the Mountain Lions ahead. Senior guard Jaisah Smith scored four straight points including a pair of free throws granted on a fast break. Junior guard Skylar Davidson knocked down a pair of free throws to bring Concord ahead 74-73 with 5:33 left in regulation.
 
With a back-and-forth ensuing in crunch time, senior guard Jaisah Smith made a crucial layup with 31 seconds on the clock to knot the game 81-81. Frostburg State was able to wind the clock down and converted a backdoor layup with under a second remaining to edge the Mountain Lions.
 
Trailing by as much as four points early in the contest, CU took its first lead in the game on a transition layup from Smith at 3:48 in the first quarter, 16-15.
 
Then, on the next possession, graduate guard Nakaila Gray took a steal coast-to-coast to extend the lead to 18-15. Junior guard/forward Deja Atkinson nailed a pair of free throws with 30 seconds remaining in the quarter to take a 25-20 lead into the second quarter.
 
Despite being held to two points in the first five minutes of the second quarter, Concord ended the first half on a 15-6 scoring run to knot the game 40-40 at halftime.
 
Out of the break, the Mountain Lions took back the lead when sophomore forward Abbie Smith found the back of the net on a jumper, 44-42, with 8:58 left. Later in the quarter, J. Smith and freshman guard Ana Young scored on back-to-back possessions to extend the margin to eight, 52-44.
  
J. Smith finished with 20 points in the game. She also came away with a game-high five steals, contributing to CU's 29 points off turnovers. Concord had five scorers post double figures in the game for the first time since hosting Emory & Henry in December. A. Smith (16), Atkinson (15), Young (11), and graduate forward Alexis Phillips (10) were among the other Mountain Lions recording double-digits.
 
Defensively, CU swiped 15 steals in the game, the sixth time this season coming away with 15 or more.
 
The Mountain Lions are back in action Monday, travelling across Mercer County to face rival Bluefield State in Ned Shott Gymnasium at 5:30 p.m.