ATHENS, W.Va.- The Concord University women's basketball team exploded for a season-high 93 points in a 93-77 victory over West Liberty Saturday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference game at the Carter Center.
West Liberty (5-10, 2-6 MEC) got off to a hot start behind five early three-pointers, taking a 21-12 lead with 4:33 left in the opening quarter. However, the final 12 points of the quarter belonged to the Mountain Lions (11-5, 7-2 MEC). Sophomore guard
Kenyah Stubbs netted nine of the 12 points while junior guard
Kiley Smich connected on a three-pointer.
WLU was able to tie the game twice in the second quarter. Holding onto a 31-30 lead, Concord finished the period on a 15-7 run. Freshman guard
Nasiya Smith (six) and senior guard
Kennedy Scales (four) keyed the run by combining for 10 points. All six of Smith's points came from three-point range.
At halftime, Concord was up 46-37.
West Liberty whittled down CU's lead to just four points, 58-54, with 2:51 remaining in the third quarter. The Mountain Lions responded with six straight points to restore a double-digit lead. And the lead remained 10 points, 68-58, after two free throws from senior forward
Abbie Smith in the final three seconds of the third.
WLU was only able to get the deficit into single digit once in the fourth quarter. A layup from senior forward
Olivia Ziolkowski pushed the lead to a game-high 18 points, 93-75, before CU settled for the 16-point win.
Much like Wednesday night at Wheeling, the CU starting five put together another brilliant game, scoring 83 of Concord's 93 points and all five starters finished in double figures.
Stubbs tallied a new career-high 32 points on 13-for-24 shooting, while also adding six rebounds, five assists, and three steals. It was the first 30-point game for a Mountain Lion since
Abbie Smith's 30-point game last January versus West Virginia Wesleyan.
A. Smith finished with her 10
th double-double of the season consisting of 19 points and 11 rebounds. She added a career-best five assists and three blocks. Ziolkowski tallied 12 points, 11 rebounds, and a career-high four blocks to anchor the defense. It was Ziolkowsk's first career double-double.
Junior guard
Kiley Smich netted 10 points on 3-for-6 shooting. Scales rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points.
CU shot 47.4 percent (37-for-78) from the field and 46.2 percent from outside the arc (6-for-13) The Mountain Lions also had a season high in points in the paint with 58.
Concord faces Charleston on the road 5:30 p.m. Wednesday
