SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio - The Concord University women's basketball team lost on a last-second shot to Notre Dame, 84-81, in a Mountain East Conference game held at Murphy Gymnasium Wednesday evening.
With neither team leading by more than by more than five points in the final quarter, Notre Dame (7-14, 4-10 MEC) went up 78-76 with 1:12 remaining. On the other end, junior guard/forward
Deja Atkinson was fouedl and tied the game for the tenth time with two free throws.
After another NDC bucket with 38 seconds remaining, CU (11-10, 7-7 MEC) was only able to make one free throw. However, the Falcons went cold at the foul line, making one of their next four attempts, leaving the door open for the Mountain Lions.
With eight seconds left, junior forward
Abbie Smith calmly sank two foul shots to knot the game at 81-81. On the ensuing Notre Dame possession, a three-pointer from the right wing fell as the horn sounded.
CU started the game on fire, shooting 60 percent (12-for-20) in the first quarter. With the game knotted 6-6, freshman guard
Ana Young led a substantial scoring drive. She knocked down three three-point shots and added a mid-range jumper to score 11 points during a 13-2 Mountain Lions run that gave them a 19-8 advantage with 3:03 left in the frame.
The lead quickly swelled to 15 points, 26-11 before junior guard
Skylar Davidson connected on a three-point basket at the buzzer as CU took a 29-11 lead into the second quarter.
But, Notre Dame shook off the Mountain Lion spurt in the first quarter and took a 40-38 lead into halftime.
After a quick back-and-forth to open up the second half, graduate guard
Nakaila Gray converted a traditional three-point play to put CU back in front, 47-44, with 6:11 remaining in the third quarter. Later in the quarter, Phillips swished a three-pointer in transition to give Concord a seven-point advantage, 51-44 at the third quarter media timeout.
Concord led by as much as 11 points, 63-52, in the third and took a 64-60 edge into the final 10 minutes.
As a team, CU shot 41.4 percent from the field and knocked down six three-point shots. Concord has now shot above 40 percent in each of the last six games. The Mountain Lions also made 27 free throws, the second-most this season.
Davidson filled her stat line, scoring 15 points, grabbing five rebounds, picking up five assists, and swatting away a career-high three blocks. Young (17). Atkinson (15), Phillips (14), and Gray (11) also scored in double figures. Phillips knocked down a career-high nine free throws.
Gray added five steals for the second straight game.
CU returns to the Carter Center to face Salem in a non-conference matchup Saturday at 2:00 p.m. It'll be Senior Day for Gray, Phillips and graduate guard
Jazz Blankenship.
