ATHENS, W.Va.- The Concord University women's basketball team overcame a 14-point second-half deficit as the Mountain Lions defeated Bluefield State, 79-77, Wednesday night in a non-conference tilt at the Carter Center.
Trailing throughout the game, Concord (2-1) was down a point with 31 seconds left, when senior forward
Olivia Ziolkowski fed her frontcourt partner, senior forward
Abbie Smith, who converted a layup and was fouled. Smith went to the line and completed the three-point play.
Bluefield State (1-2) had one chance to tie and another chance to take the lead after an offensive rebound, but missed both. Sophomore guard
Kenyah Stubbs broke free after securing the rebound, but barely missed the layup on the other end after an unlucky bounce and BSU would get another chance.
The Mountain Lions smothered the inbound attempt and the clock expired, securing a signature win.
Concord had an early 12-11 lead, but after a Bluefield State basket with 4:53 to go in the first quarter CU would not get the lead back until late in the fourth quarter.
CU was kept in the game by Stubbs who had 10 points in the first quarter.
The Big Blues built a double-digit lead in the second quarter and led 48-37 at halftime.
Though Concord traded baskets with BSU throughout the third quarter, CU stil trailed 61-51.
After being down by as much as 14 points with two minutes left in the third quarter, a three-pointer by Stubbs trimmed the deficit to five, 61-56, with 8:50 remaining. However, Bluefield State had an answer as the lead went back to eight with just over three minutes remaining.
Senior guard
Kennedy Scales provided a big boost as she hit a mid-range shot, followed by a pair of free throws the next trip down to cut it to four, 73-69.
A Smith layup with 1:53 remaining in the contest tied the game at 73-73.
After a BSU bucket, freshman guard
Cadence Blackburn nailed a triple from the wing to put CU up one. Again, Bluefield State responded to retake the lead, 77-76.
Concord outscored Bluefield State 28-16 in the fourth quarter, only led for 5:16 of the contest.
For Concord, Stubbs topped the chart with 25 points, three assists, and three steals.
Abbie Smith tallied her third straight double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. Scales was the third Mountain Lion in double figures with 12 points. Blackburn contributed seven points and two steals. Fellow freshman
Nasiya Smith finished the game with five points, six rebounds, and a team-high four assists.
CU hits the road for the first time this season to face UVa.-Wise Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
