Concord Hits 13 Three-Pointers, Downs West Virginia Wesleyan 96-85

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team picked up its fourth straight victory, defeating West Virginia Wesleyan, 96-85, in a Mountain East Conference game inside the Rockefeller Center Wednesday evening.
 
The Mountain Lions (12-11, 8-7 MEC) scored 50 points in the first half for the second consecutive game to build an early lead.
 
Sophomore guards Alexis Frazee and Madison Young scored five points each to get CU on the board and lead 10-7 at the 7:08 mark in the first quarter. Both teams traded buckets throughout the frame, but junior forward Imani Hickman extended the Maroon and Gray's advantage to nine, 24-15, after back-to-back three pointers with 2:35 on the first-quarter clock.
 
Hickman capped off her first quarter with eight points, adding a late basket to carry a 29-17 advantage into the second.
 
Frazee and Young acted quickly in the second period as well, draining back-to-back three pointers to extend the margin to 13, 32-19, just two minutes into the frame. Three of CU's 13 three-pointers in the game came in the final three minutes of the first half, as junior guard Kennedy Scales got the barrage started with a long-range shot to make the score 44-32 at the 3:03 mark. Hickman and senior guard Skylar Davidson also hit from beyond the arc in the closing moments to claim a 15-point lead at the break, 50-35.
 
Three different Mountain Lions scored in double figures in the first half, led by Hickman with 15 points while Young and Frazee added 10 points each.
 
Meanwhile, Young kept her record night going, drilling back-to-back three-pointers midway through the third quarter, followed by a steal and a layup from Davidson to give Concord its biggest lead of the night, 60-43, with 5:58 remaining. 
Junior forward Abbie Smith scored six of CU's first 11 points of the fourth quarter as Concord's remained double-figures, 84-71, with 4:42 left. Young connected on one final three-pointer, her sixth of the night, to secure the Maroon and Gray's fourth consecutive victory over the Bobcats (16-6, 10-5 MEC).
 
Young scored a career-best 23 points on six three-pointers to lead all scorers in the game. She tied the single-game program record for triples which has occurred eight previous times, with the most recent coming from Emily Boothe in February 2017. Hickman added 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting, including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. Smith logged 16 points, Davidson recorded her second consecutive double-double with 14 points and 12 assists, and Frazee also scored 14.
 
With her 12-assist performance, Davidson now moves into ninth all-time in program history for total assists (153). The 13 three-pointers were the most since January 2017 versus Bluefield State. CU shot 46.4 percent for the game.
 
CU hosts Davis & Elkins for an MEC showdown in the Carter Center Saturday at 2:00 p.m.