Concord Holds On For Victory Over Glenville State in Regular Season Finale, 80-75

GLENVILLE, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team never trailed and used a 56-percent shooting effort to take down Glenville State 80-75 in a Mountain East Conference game held at the Waco Center Saturday afternoon.
 
CU (16-12, 11-9 MEC) jumped out to a hot start, scoring the game's first 11 points. Graduate guard Nakaila Gray got the scoring started on a layup, followed by junior guard Skylar Davidson and graduate forward Alexis Phillips adding layups. After another layup from Gray, junior guard/forward Deja Atkinson drilled a three-pointer to cap off the 11-0 run at the 7:15 mark of the first quarter.
 
The Mountain Lions maintained their double-digit lead throughout the frame with help from six different scorers. Freshman guard Madison Young scored the final bucket of the opening quarter as CU settled a nine-point lead, 24-15, over Glenville State (18-10, 11-9 MEC) after the opening quarter.
 
Sophomore forward Abbie Smith got the second quarter started, scoring CU's first six points. After a putback from an offensive rebound, Smith knocked down a pair of free throws. On the next possession, she found the back of the net on a dish from Phillips to grow the Concord lead to 15 points, 30-15, with 7:40 remaining until halftime.
 
Again, CU kept its double figure lead throughout the quarter, with two free throws from Davidson securing an 11-point edge heading into halftime, 47-36. The Mountain Lions shot 64.5 percent (20-for-31) from the floor in the first half, a team-best in any half this season.
 
Smith scored eight of the team's 21 points in the frame. Six total Mountain Lions contributed offensively in the third quarter to hold a 67-57 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of action.
 
Following a four-point run from graduate guard Jazz Blankenship, Smith scored on another layup to give Concord its biggest lead of the contest, 75-57, with 5:25 left to go in the game. Glenville State cut the CU margin to as little as three points over the final three minutes of play, crucial free throws from Blankenship, Atkinson, and Gray allowed the Mountain Lions to hang on for a five-point win.
 
The victory marks the first win over the Pioneers for Concord since the 2020-21 season and its first win at the Waco Center since December 2014.
 
The Mountain Lions shot a season-high 56.1 percent and scored 56 points in the paint. CU also outrebounded GSU, 45-32.
 
Smith led the Maroon and Gray with 22 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds for a double-double. Gray finished with 16 points and two steals. Davidson notched 12 points with five rebounds and three assists and Blankenship rounded out double figure scorers with 10 points and five assists.
 
With the win, CU clinches the number six seed in the upcoming MEC Tournament next week. The Mountain Lions will play number three Frostburg State Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, W.Va.