Concord Falls at Glenville State

GLENVILLE, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team was unable to hold off Glenville State as the Mountain Lions were defeated 73-72 Saturday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference game at the Waco Center.

CU (18-10, 13-7 MEC) took a 60-46 lead to the fourth, and scored the first bucket of the final period as senior forward Abbie Smith put Concord up 16 points at the 9:33 mark. Glenville State (22-5, 16-4 MEC) went on a 14-3 run over the next four minutes to close within 65-60. The lead eventually got reduced to 65-64 before freshman guard Cadence Blackburn hit a pull-up jumper with 2:43 remaining.

After the Mountain Lions got a defensive stop, junior guard Alexis Frazee hit a straight-on three-pointer to get the lead back to six, 70-64, with 1:47 remaining. But, the Pioneers came back to get within 72-70 with 34 seconds remaining.

Concord went empty on the next possession, and Glenville State hit a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining to take a 73-72 edge. Smith got a contested shot away just outside the paint as time expired, but the shot was off the mark.

Glenville State was up 21-12 after the first quarter, but CU outscored the Pioneers 29-8 in the second quarter as the Mountain Lions took a 41-29 lead into the locker room with Frazee completing the surge, hitting a three-pointer with 23 seconds left in the first half.

Concord shot a game-best 61.1 percent (11-for-18) in the second quarter.

Out of halftime, GSU went on an 11-2 run, but the Mountain Lions withstood and finished the final 5:25 of the third quarter on a 17-6 scoring binge as senior forward Olivia Ziolkowski had the final bucket of the third for CU.

Smith finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore guard Kenyah Stubbs netted 17 points while adding four assists.

Blackburn came off the bench with 11 points in 28 minutes. Ziolkowski just a missed double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds.

The Mountain Lions earned the fourth seed in the upcoming MEC Tournament as they open up postseason play in the quarterfinal round against Fairmont State 8:30 p.m. Thursday night at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia.